Avatar: First Contact
by YaoiBoyToy
Summary: Using an antiquated Space Based Telescope, a young RDA intern accidentally makes an amazing discovery. Eventually his discovery ends up with the Human race making First Contact with an extra-terrestrial intelligence. Rated M for violence and sensuality.
1. Prologue: A New Eye on the Sky

**Avatar: First Contact**  
_A Fan-Fiction __by YaoiBoy __based on James Cameron's "Avatar"  
_

"Avatar" is the property of James Cameron and Twentieth Century Fox  
I take no credit or monetary compensation for the fictional world referenced in this work

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**Prologue**: A New Eye on the Sky

It was a glorious day in the world of science when the _Antonia Miroslava Space Telescope_ was loaded onto the International Space Elevator. The brilliant engineers at the _Space Telescope Institute _of the Johns Hopkins University_, _in cooperation with the _Resource Development Administration_ (RDA) had worked some 15 years perfecting the state of the art instrument package and optics it carried. The telescope would allow astronomers to "see" farther into the universe than anyone would have ever thought possible.

The new instrument was launched from geosynchronous orbit without issue towards its destined observation point: outside of the _Oort cloud_; a ring of comets and other bodies considered to be the gravitational boundary of the Solar system. With the help of a brand new Matter/Anti-Matter propulsion system designed by the now famous American aerospace entrepreneur (and multi-billionaire) Alger Witzhur, this trip would take only one year to complete.

This proved to be the first time any human-made object survived leaving the Solar system. All three of the Voyager probes were lost upon entering this treacherous outer boundary zone, with Voyager III making it the farthest before meeting its ultimate demise. This new probe's electromagnetic shielding and advanced object tracking system would prevent any debris from ending its journey in a similar fate like that of the Voyager spacecrafts.

Use of this probe would also present the first long range use of a new superluminal communication device based on the research of RDA scientist Dr. Austin McKinney. Transmissions from the telescope to Earth would be almost instantaneous. Due to a vastly improved data I/O rate of 10 Tb/sec with advanced error correction and full duplex, real-time communication and vast amounts of data transfer was made possible over limitless distances. The RDA expended billions of dollars perfecting this technology and remains the sole patent holder.

What would we be able to "see" after all the gravitational forces of the Solar System were no longer influencing the view? What they found would change the world, _forever._

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This story starts with the discovery of Pandora. We will follow Max Patel, Grace Augustine, an unlikely RDA Intern and many others as they struggle through the political turmoils of First Contact with an intelligence other than our own. Eventually, they journey to this new world and meet the native Na'vi for the first time. You will be there as we make the first landings on Pandora; see the building of the first permanent colony; witness the school for the Na'vi; watch humans and Na'vi learn to love and hate each other. The story ends where the movie begins.

Please let me know your thoughts. Rated M for violence and sensuality


	2. Chapter 1: A Great Discovery!

"Avatar" is the property of James Cameron and Twentieth Century Fox  
I take no credit or monetary compensation for the fictional world referenced in this work

This is my first fan-fiction. Like it or hate it, please drop me a line!

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**CHAPTER 1**: A Great Discovery!

After safely arriving at its destination just outside the Solar system, it was the mission of the _Antonia Miroslava Space Telescope _to study the far reaches of space. Thus, its operation was immediately focused upon quasars that were essential to understanding the formation of the known universe. It spent the next 10 years studying these fascinating distant objects. Its mission completed successfully, control of the instrument was then turned over to public scientific study. The _Resources Development Administration (or RDA)_ had been the primary funder of the project and thus had maintained strict control over the years. As a result, public use of the telescope had not been permitted, until now.

Many scientists had longed for a chance to log time on this fantastic instrument. After a single day, the waiting list for access grew to a 5 year wait. During the mission, the first uses of the telescope were made by the top scientists of the day and much meaningful data was collected. The instrument was praised as the most effective telescope ever created. They actually saw _past_ the quasars and into a vast emptiness of space devoid of stars, or any other matter. The meaning of this discovery would embattle astronomers _(and even religious leaders)_ in debates for many years to come.

After another 10 years had past, a more powerful telescope was deployed making the _Antonia Miroslava Space Telescope_ _(or simply AMST)_ obsolete. As a result, the instrument was resigned to the realm of young interns at the RDA as well as university students trying to collect data for their theses and dissertations. It was during this time that young scientist Alex Foster, an intern with the RDA, got his first time on the telescope. His assignment was to study the Large Megellanic Cloud, a nearby galaxy to our Milky Way. Upon receiving his assignment via his handheld device, he sighed.

"_You've got to be kidding me,"_ he thought to himself. _"The LMC has been studied to death."_ He had been waiting for months to get independent study time with the telescope and his internship with the RDA was about to expire. Once his internship was over, he would lose access to the telescope. Cursing under his breath, he decided to approach his supervisor as his patience was growing thin. Grabbing his backpack and HoloPad, he left his table and made way past the crowd of people in the busy RDA cafeteria. He went out a sliding metal doorway and entered the long, dimly lit hallway to the transports.

At the end of the hall, he stepped into an open-air, four-seater levitating vehicle that would take him across the RDA's Palo Alto campus to the 20 story tall, dingy glass building which contained the RDA management offices. The RDA insignia was emblazoned on the side of said monolith in dark, weather-beaten black letters: **R. D. A**. After speaking his destination, the car silently started its 1 kilometer journey.

"_The air is bad today," _Alex thought as he produced an exopack from his bag and put it on. His longish, light brown hair flowed freely in the breeze as the _mag-lev_ vehicle picked up speed. He leaned back, closed his eyes and relaxed his face muscles as the filtered air cleared his lungs. It was a hot, mid-July day and the air quality was worst during the summertime. Here in California, it was becoming a rare event to have a day when the air was clean enough to breathe freely without a filter. The RDA was making record profits selling exopacks. In fact, last month's international sales were the highest on record. The Earth was dying. No one could deny it.

He opened his eyes and watched the structures pass him by; monoliths of steel and enclosed walkways as far as the eye could see. Advertising was everywhere; HoloPanels were blazing, trying to get his attention. In the distance, he could see a small part of the network of tracks that made up the _Mag-Lev_ inter-rail transportation system: a major achievement by the RDA. The rail network covered the entire country with plans for extending the system into Canada and Central/South America. The execs were currently in talks to buy out the only remaining competitor in east-Asia, the Japan Railways Group, with hopes of starting operations on the other side of the world. It was only a matter of time.

Not one tree was apparent; only concrete and asphalt. Alex remembered going to the park with his father and seeing the trees there. Environmentalists had warned that soon there would be no trees left, _at all_.

He looked up and saw that the transport was nearing his destination. He stood up as the car came to a stop and walked up the brick stairs into the main entrance. Large metal doors opened automatically as he stepped forward. A pleasant, but artificial voice (complete with holographic doorman) greeted him as he entered and asked if he needed assistance. He ignored it and walked forward to the elevators and pushed the button. Shortly after, the lavish, art-deco style metal doors opened before him. He stepped from the polished marble floor of the lobby into the plush, carpeted interior of the lift and spoke his requested floor number. The elevator quickly, but 0silently lifted him up to the 12th floor.

"I'm sorry, but this is important research", said Max Patel, who was recently assigned the responsibility for maintaining the space telescope program as well as other advanced technologies that were deemed classified. Alex could only wonder what secret research Max was conducting when he wasn't staring at telescope maintenance logs.

"To who?" questioned the intern. "That place has been stared at so _much_, they probably installed drapes by now." Alex smirked for a moment. "Come on, Max! This has been studied to death!" He stared down at the young, Indian scientist who was clearly showing signs of intimidation. Max adjusted his glasses and looked up confidently. However, he could feel perspiration building up on his back.

"I need this data to complete my latest publication," Max answered and immediately looked down when he met Alex's angry eyes. Max and Alex had not gotten along very well lately and in recent weeks, it had only gotten worse.

"Alex, this research is due in one week. I would normally do the telescope research myself, but I simply do not have the time right now. I've got 50 terabytes of spectral data to look through." Max closed his eyes and bowed his head, dreading the response he knew was coming.

"This is bullshit!" cried Alex and Max flinched at the outburst. "I'm being used for mindless busy work, _again_." He turned around and stared out the large window at the smoggy sky trying to calm down. "Thanks a lot, Max."

Max just stood there, eyes shut with his head down. He really didn't know what to say. Alex was right. He tried to formulate a response, but Alex suddenly turned back around to face him and snapped angrily.

"You know what? I came here on a _promise_ of being able to conduct some of my own research. In fact, I got it in _writing_. Any idea when any of that is going to happen?" Alex glared at Max who is now had a bead of sweat beading on his brow. He looked very uncomfortable.

"Okay, _okay_. I get it." said Max once he regained his composure. Max looked back up at Alex. "I promise to give you some time after this project is complete." Max should have known better.

"Gee, thanks." Alex said sarcastically. "That is _exactly_ what you told me last time, a _month_ ago." The intern crossed his arms and his nostrils flared a bit. Max opened his mouth as if about to speak, but hesitated.

"I'm sorry," said Max, placing a dark hand on the intern's shoulder. "I promised you time. You'll get it." Alex pushed him off.

"Sure thing, Max." he said with a smirk. "You know my time is almost finished here, right?" He lifted up his HoloPad in Max's face and pointed repeatedly on a highlighted date. After a moment, he turned and walked out the door with a huff leaving Max standing there,

The next morning, Alex arrived at the RDA's space telescope mission control complex to begin his "exciting" research for Max. He sighed as he sat down at the control console and logged into the biometric security lock. A moment later, the console unlocked and the HoloScreen before him came to life with all the latest telemetry from the telescope. A minute later, he warmly greeted fellow technicians and scientists as they entered the room. He would be assisting them with this research until completion. The project was scheduled to take three days.

An hour later after preparations were completed, the lead scientist in charge of the mission called for maneuvers to begin. Alex was in charge of navigation today and quickly navigated the pads on his HoloScreen which controlled the trajectory of the spacecraft. The thrusters would fire and eventually point the telescope at the Large Megallanic Cloud. He announced his manipulations to the room as they were made. Another technician echoed confirmation that said instructions were being properly processed by the spacecraft. After a few minutes, everything was lined up and the data started coming in. Everything was green across the board. _"Good time for a break"_, he thought once the data flow was confirmed to be coming in at 1Gb/sec and rising. It was pilling up on Max's data storage cluster. _"Chew on that, you geek,"_ laughed Alex, but he then stopped himself.

He suddenly felt guilty about how he had bared down on Max the previous afternoon. Yes, he was angry, but that wasn't very professional and he felt he owed Max an apology. They were supposed to be working _together_, after all. Fighting him wasn't going to get him that time he needed any sooner. As he was about to bring up a comm. interface, a red error flashed up on his HoloScreen. An alarm sounded shortly afterwards. A technician yelled up from below.

"We have a thruster malfunction!" Charlie exclaimed. "The probe is moving out of position!"

"_Oh, no…"_ thought Alex as he skillfully manipulated the HoloInterface to send a diagnostic to the spacecraft before it went spinning out of control. "A diagnostic command has been sent. Can you confirm the command was received?" he asked, trying to sound professional. Inside, he wanted to cry. This could turn into a critical situation if not handled properly. He stiffened up and focused his attention on the panel.

"Checking…" replied the tech. All went silent in the control room; the alarms since silenced. The only sound was that of the air being pumped into the room by the ventilation system. Alex stared warily at the red warning that refused to go away on his screen:

**MASTER ALARM**: SENSOR P1 - THRUSTER FAILURE

There was nothing to do but wait. If the diagnostic was received, all thrusters should shut down automatically and a test cycle would begin. Then, the faulty unit would be isolated and repaired, baring a catastrophic failure. In reality, there was little hope of ever gaining control again. Spinning out of control, the telescope would likely fall into the Oort cloud. It would face certain destruction as the guidance system would not be able to accurately steer it clear of debris. While the electromagnetic shield would protect the craft from smaller objects, a collision with a larger object would be disastrous.

After five minutes, the red error finally cleared and Charlie confirmed that the diagnostic had been received. A low murmur started to envelope the room as people started to have a sense of hope. However, the spacecraft was badly out of position. After conferring with the lead scientist and helping with appraising the situation, Alex opened the comm. to call Max. He would have some bad news.

"I guess 20 years of continuous use is finally taking a toll," said Alex nervously to Max though the vid link. Max had been following the event from his office.

"Yes, I would agree," answered Max. The craft was only designed for a 10 year mission. Everyone knew it would eventually fail and no one was really surprised. It would be a sad day when the end finally came. Alex was hopeful it wouldn't happen today on _his_ watch.

"Well, it looks like I got some good data, regardless," said Max, looking over the data collected on his servers. "Thank you for all your hard work on this project." Max tried to sound optimistic. "Please let me know if you can restore the probe's systems." Max smiled, "Good luck."

"Thanks," replied Alex, and Max signed off. His heart sank. _"So much for my research,"_ he thought. The lead scientist stood up and announced commandingly, "Okay, let's see if we can get the old girl to fly again. Charlie, how's that diagnostic doing?"

"Diagnostic has completed," he replied. "Spacecraft systems are coming back online. We lost the number 2 thruster." He paused for a moment, combing through his displays. "It's gone, sir. The diagnostic reports a hard failure. It cannot be repaired." Alex looked up at the big display panel at the front of the room that showed the probe's telemetry. Thankfully, the craft was still safely out of the perimeter cloud.

For about an hour, the scientists debated each other on how to proceed. With no other logical steps to take, they decided to move forward. "Okay," called out the lead. "You have a _go_ to attempt repositioning. Show me what she has left, son."

Just as Alex was about to start procedures to try and reposition the spacecraft, data began to come back in. He stopped what he was doing when he saw the overview of the data-steam, his mouth falling open slowly; one particular line got his full attention:

**SPECTROGRAPH 1**: POSSIBLE OXYGEN ATMOSPHERE DETECTED

"What the hell?" gasped Alex. Charlie and the other techs looked up at him and stared blankly. Alex transferred his screen to the main viewer for everyone to see. Several people in the room gasped. A coffee cup crashed to the floor. A moment later, there was a rush of exclamations and the lead scientist ran over to Alex's console to look at the data. Everyone was actively checking their screens.

"Where is the probe currently pointed?" the lead called out. _"It must be pointed back at Earth,"_ Alex thought. He paused a moment before answering. "Oh, my god…" he said under his breath. "We will need to confirm this, but it appears to be pointed at the Alpha Centauri system!"

A moment later, the detection message was gone and yet another thruster error appeared. The probe started spinning and flew even further out of position. Alex knew there was little hope of regaining control now. He franticly manipulated the screen, trying to regain control manually. With two failed thrusters, it was proving to be an impossible task. He called Max on the comm. "Max! Please come to the control room! It is urgent!"

"On my way," confirmed Max as he hurried out of his office.

A moment later, all contact with the probe was lost. It had fallen into the Oort cloud. The last data received from the spacecraft was a proximity alarm.

Max was stunned when he saw the data. He looked up at the main display in the control room and just couldn't believe his eyes. The lead scientist was arguing frantically with his colleagues. A minute later, they all left the room, leaving Max and Alex alone.

"Alex, this is incredible," said Max. "We have looked at Alpha Centauri system thousands of times and we have _never_ detected anything like this!" He looked carefully at Alex, searching his eyes. They both smiled at each other with excitement. It was like old times again. "We'll need to confirm this! Let's take this to the RDA science director. Come on!"

The RDA science director's office was a conglomerate of rooms that comprised the entire top floor of the administration building. Max and Alex were made to wait outside for a good 10 minutes before the call came for them to enter. The door slid open to a beautiful Asian woman with long, dark hair to her waist. She had a pleasant, but subdued demeanor. She quietly escorted them in before the director, her long, dress with floral patterns swaying with her hips.

Mr. Smith was wearing a particularly impressive dark-blue Armani suit and sat behind a large solid oak desk; a rare site at a time when trees were seldom seen at all, let alone used for furniture. A set of gold-plated golf clubs garnished a rack behind him. A large portion of the lavish office was dominated by a mock putting green. Large windows made up the entire south and east walls. HoloPanels darted the west wall from which they entered with various displays of mission data. A detailed map of the mag-lev transit system took most of the office's north wall.

The imposing man rose from his high-backed leather chair to greet them. They noticed that his chair was actually not connected to the floor, but floating freely; clearly invoking mag-lev technology.

"Greetings, Mr. Patel," said the large man with a smile and shook Max's hand firmly. The tall man smelled strongly of cherry cigars. He looked at Alex as he offered his hand. "And... I'm sorry, you are?"

"Alex Foster. A pleasure to meet you." Alex was disgusted by the waste he saw in the office before him, but hid it behind a hearty smile.

"Okay," Mr. Smith continued. "So what's this about? You say you have made a major discovery? You boys found something the lead scientist missed?"

"Yes sir," Max answered, "We think we have discovered a planet with an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere!"

The man stared blankly at him for a moment. "Riiiight," he finally answered and turned to his desk where a HoloScreen showed a typical listing of mission data. Upon a closer look, Max and Alex recognized it as the data collected from the _AMST_ shortly before its untimely end. Max gestured for him to scroll back up to the previous section of the data which contained the readings they were interested in.

"Just hold on a sec. there, young man," as he gestured to leave the screen where it was. "We are on the right screen," he said with a confident smile and pointed to a particular line. Max and Alex read the data Mr. Smith was referring to:

**SPECTROGRAPH 4**: MAGNETIC FIELD STRENGTH BEYOND KNOWN LIMITS

Mr. Smith gestured for the boys to sit down. Two chairs rose from the floor and floated before them and they obeyed. The director sat back behind his desk. Max, looking somewhat confused asked, "What about the Oxygen atmosphere? Did you see the data?" Max glanced at Alex and he took over. "Back me up, Alex."

"Yes, I was staring right at it," Alex continued. "When the probe was out of position, it collected data from somewhere in the Alpha Centauri system. I was detecting a possible Oxygen atmosphere." The directory put his hands together and placed them on his chin as he listened. Alex gestured as he talked and turned back to the HoloPanel. He scrolled the data back to where the amazing message occurred. "I know… There are several planets in that system, but nothing that should be able to support life. All the planets in the habitable zone are gas giants." Alex tensed up as he continued. "But I really think something is out there."

"Boys," Mr. Smith said with a grin. "I'm more curious about this message here." He turned back to the screen and scrolled back down to where he had it set earlier.

"Sir, I'm not sure I'm following you," said Max. "We need to find and confirm that atmosphere. We don't know exactly where in the system this data came from, but there may be life there!" Max was starting to sound a little desperate. His eyes widened as he continued. "We need to re-point the Leonov Telescope back at the Alpha Centauri system. Please!"

Before he got an answer, the secretary entered the room. "You boys have my permission to take a look, but understand this: the RDA is mostly interested in that intense source of magnetism. The lead scientist said there may possibly be a large cache of high-temperature superconductive material there. I don't have to tell you what this could mean for the RDA should that be the case. It could change the world economy." He placed a cigar in his mouth and promptly lit it. Rich tobacco smoke began to fill the room. "Use whatever tools you need. Find us that magic rock."

Max and Alex gave a dumbfounded look at each other before turning back and answering "Yes, sir" almost simultaneously.

"Well, now. That is what I wanted to hear." He stood up from the desk, Max and Alex followed suit. "Find that for me and neither of you will ever have to work again." He leaned in, lowering his voice. "And, keep this quiet. You follow me?"

Both scientists nodded in acknowledgement before following the petit young secretary out of the room. She silently escorted them out the door and to the elevators, pleasantly bowing to them before returning to her desk. Max and Alex stared at each other in shock. A beat later, Alex smiled brightly.

"Holy shit!" he exclaimed. "Did he just give us permission to take over the Leonov?"

"Yeah, I think so…" Max answered with a troubled look. "He is taking quite a risk here. The _European Space Agency_ is currently using the telescope. What is he going to tell them?"

Alex just shrugged. "Not our problem."

The door slid open and they stepped in, silently levitating back to the 12th floor. They entered Max's office and activated several HoloScreens on his desk. They had a lot of work to do.

A week later, Max and Alex were in the control room of the massive Alexey Leonov project. Its telescope was far superior to that of the _AMST_. However, it was on the other side of the Oort cloud and didn't have as clear a view of the Alpha Centauri system.

Nonetheless, they inputted the needed commands to turn the instrument toward our closest neighbor in the stars. All the while, Max was terrible concerned that something was terribly wrong.

"Nothing?" asked Max with a concerned look. He looked over the technician's solder and saw the results for himself. There was no trace of the Oxygen atmosphere they had detected just a week ago. He stared back at Alex who brought his hand up to his nose, cursing under his breath.

"How much gravitational distortion do we have to compensate for?" asked Alex, looking at the data himself. As a result of pointing the probe towards Alpha Centauri, much of the Solar system ended up in direct line of site. Sure, they could compensate, but there would still be negative influences on the data. _"Damn,"_ he thought to himself. _"We need to move the telescope."_

"Max," called Alex. Max looked up from the screen. "How long would it take to move the telescope into a position that gave it an unobstructed view of Alpha Centauri?"

"Years," Max answered. Doing so would cause a considerable impact on the Leonov's original mission: to explore the void. "They'll never let us do that."

Alex looked at Max thoughtfully and closed his eyes before looking away. "Shit, your right. It would be way too damned expensive. Not to mention we would be taking it completely off its original mission." Alex tapped the counter with his fist. "The scientific community would have our heads. We'd be finished."

After yet another week of observation, the results remained the same. The mysterious planet with the Oxygen atmosphere was nowhere to be found. And they were now due to report back to the director. He wasn't going to like the results. Thirty minutes later, they reported to him office.

"So you can't find it?" Director Smith looked between the two scientists. "You've had two weeks on the most expensive damn investment in science."

"Sir, we need more time," pleaded Max. "We know it is there. We all saw the data."

"How do we know this wasn't some kind of fluke?" Smith's face went hard. "The telescope was damaged. It was spinning out of control, after all. Truth is; we don't know _what_ we saw." Max brought his hands up as if about the make his case before, but Smith went on. "I should have known better than to let you boys run wild like that. People pay top dollar to take advantage of our investments. We've lost two weeks of paid science." He stood up suddenly. "I'm pullin' the plug."

"No!" cried Alex. "Sir, we know it is there. As for the _AMST_, only the thrusters were damaged. The instruments were still performing nominally!" He stood up tall to meet the man's gaze. "We can do this."

"Sorry boys, but not on the RDA's dime." The door opened and the secretary came in to escort them out. "Thanks for you time, gentlemen." He sat back at his desk and turned his attention back to his screens. Alex made a fist and was ready to rush the man, but Max stopped him. "Don't," Max coaxed with brown eyes looking up. "We'll find another way." With that, they left the director's office.

Alex returned to his apartment that evening in an awful mood. He had to wear that dreaded exopack all the way home. He thought of the days when such devices were not needed. _"It has only been five years" _he though as he opened the door, walked over to the closet and deposited his bags. He opened the exopack and placed the filter unit in the sink. _"I'll wash that later."_

His place was a wreck. He lived there alone and never had visitors so he rarely bothered to clean. The only neat area was around his desk where his various Holo devices as well as school related items sat. He sat down in front of a large screen and tapped it with his finger to turn it on. The first thing he saw from the news feed made his heart sink.

**RDA SCRUTINIZED FOR DIVERTING LEONOV MISSION**:  
_DIRECTOR OF SCIENCES DIVISION UNDER INVESTIGATION_

"_Great…"_ Alex thought. He closed his eyes for a moment and tapped the link to the visual feed. A female reporter talked about the irresponsible misuse of millions of company dollars on a _wild goose chase_. A few graphs were presented on the screen. Alex froze when he saw it. The superluminal data link cost $100,000.00 _per megabyte_. So, for every command he and Max had sent, they were spending hundreds of thousands of dollars. The news agency had estimated the cost of the diversion at $137.5M. In the current economy, this was a fortune, even to the RDA. The reporter went on to state that the director had planned a meeting with the chairman of the board to try and explain his authorization of said funding. An independent investigation was already underway. Even members of Congress where asking questions.

"_Someone's head is going to roll…"_ He could not help but smirk for a moment.

He decided he had seen enough and needed to blow off some steam. _"Fuck this…_" With another touch of his finger, the HoloScreen went dark. He immediately made his way back to the sink and cleaned the filter to his exopack, pushing a few dirty dishes out of the way. _"At least these things last,"_ he though as he put it back together. He wanted to go out for a while and would take the device with him. The time was 10PM as he walked out the door.

He made the short walk from his apartment complex to the train station. The simple yellow brick buildings of his apartment complex were simple compounds that could only be told apart by their numbers. Tonight, the air wasn't too bad so he left the exopack off and clipped it to his belt. As he walked, he took in the sights and sounds around him. Trash littered the streets of the busy San Francisco suburb. Trash pickup had been cut back to once every two weeks due to city budget cuts. A moment later, a pair of city police cruisers breezed by, the only sound being that of their sirens. Yeah, he had decided a night on the town was what he needed. _"This world is going to shit."_

After he thumbed his fare of $15, he stepped onto the mag-lev train and was on his way to downtown San Francisco. He was determined not to turn into a "science geek" like Max. Sure, Alex was at the top of his class at Stanford University, but he was still only in his late teens. He liked to find a good time wherever he could. Tonight he would hop the clubs, sneak in a few drinks and enjoy himself. Maybe he could forget the last two weeks, if only for a few hours.

The next morning, Alex awoke in his bed with a start. It was very early Saturday morning and he was at home, but he did not remember how he got there. The young man was naked, his clothing nowhere in evidence. _"Oh, man…"_ His head was pounding from too much drink; his body was sore from dancing. Putting his hands over his forehead, he made his way over to the bathroom to look for something to kill the pain, his light-brown, naked body aching with each step.

After relieving himself, he found a pack of pain relief strips in the medicine cabinet. Placing one of the plastic strips on his forehead, his pain immediately began to subside. He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly while reveling in the soothing pain relief. Reaching into the tub, he turned on the water and let it get nice and hot before pushing the button to engage the shower.

Finishing up in the bathroom, he made his way to the kitchen where he found his hastily discarded clothes. _"Damn, I must have really been out of it last night,"_ he thought as he scrounged together something to eat. "Where's my exopack?" he said aloud, a bit alarmed. He searched the apartment, but it was nowhere to be found. _"Fuck,"_ he cursed himself. This would be the third one he had lost since starting his internship. At $450 a piece, it was not something he could really afford to replace right now. Knowing his luck, the filter was probably found by some random stranger and resold on the black market by now.

Alex's internship with the RDA would officially end on Monday. He had spent a grueling 6 months there working with Max on the _AMST _team. Like Alex, Max Patel was a bright young college student who had accelerated through his education, finishing his undergrad at 16. Alex currently had a class where Max was serving as a Teaching Assistant. They had both wanted the position and they developed an aggressive, but friendly rivalry. They were both working on their Master's theses and the RDA was helping them conduct research. Max had taken a residency with the RDA. Alex was yet to a make a decision whether or not to stay with the RDA.

Alex thought of Max and laughed. _"What a geek. I can't believe I ended up under him at the RDA; of __**all**__ people."_ He played with his food for a while as he wasn't really that hungry. _"Why didn't we find it?" _He sulked for a while before heading to his desk to study. _"Oh, well. It probably __**was**__ just a fluke."_ He laughed at his next thought. _"We must have looked like idiots."_ He sat down in his chair and began his work. His final report on his internship with the RDA would be due on Monday afternoon, the time his position would expire.

Later that morning, an incoming call notification appeared on his HoloScreen. It was Max. Alex immediately tapped the answer button. "What do you want, Max?" He wasn't in the mood to deal with him right now, but he answered anyway figuring it might be related to his internship.

"Please come to the lab," said Max with an excited smile. "I want to show you something."

"Oh my god, Max!" Alex rubbed his forehead wearily. "You mean **now**? Today?" He sighed before continuing. "You _know_ I have a report to write." Max just shrugged, continuing to smile. "Remember all that secret back-room stuff I have been working on?"

"Yes," Alex responded with a contorted look. "What about it?" He had to admit that his curiosity was piqued.

"Meet me in the lab in an hour!" exclaimed Max, "but keep it _quiet!_"

Fifty minutes later, Alex was waiting outside _Advanced Sciences Building 3_. It was a windowless, one story rectangular bunker about the size of a city block. Being a Saturday afternoon, there was no one around. A sign out front read **AUTHORIZED PERSONEL ONLY**. _"What are you getting me into, Max?" _he sighed as his handheld device buzzed. Picking it up to look, it was Max sending a message telling him to come to the back of the building. _"Great…"_thought Alex. "_Let's get arrested right before my last day." _However, his curiosity got the best of him and he followed Max's cue.

Arriving at the back of the building, a door opened and Max stuck his head out. Motioning to come in quickly, Alex hustled through the door and Max closed it behind them with a strong exhale. He looked up at Alex and giggled. Alex hadn't seen Max this happy in a long time. "Do you know what will happen to us if they find out you snuck me in here?" exclaimed Alex. "Don't worry. There is a blind spot in the surveillance system by that door every 60 seconds. Also, there is no one here but us." Max grabbed Alex's arm. "Come this way!"

Making their way to an elevator, Max pressed his thumb to the panel and the door opened. They both stepped inside and Max pressed his thumb to another panel and the car started to descend. 25 floors later, they finally reached their destination. When the door opened, there was a pungent odor of animal feces. Alex gasped for a moment at the stench. "Don't worry," said Max. "You'll get used to that. Come on over to lab station 1. We got some amazing new equipment this morning."

They walked into the large open space. There were various cages of many shapes and sizes. Some of them were occupied by animals, mostly primates. They began to howl and rant as we walked through the room. A number of chimpanzees were on gurneys, apparently dead.

Alex was not amused. "Are you kidding, Max?" he cried as he walked over with him. "What is so important in here that you sneak me…" He cut his statement short. "What is _that_?"

He was looking at a coffin shaped device sitting in front of a machine that resembled an old fashioned MRI scanner. Max giggled. "_That_ may be one of the most fantastic scientific breakthroughs in human history!" He opened the "coffin" to reveal what looked like a bed of some kind. "Here, I'll show you how it works." Alex was confused. "What does it do? Is this some new medical device? It appears to be a scanner of some kind"

Max pressed a few buttons on the control panel and the machine came to life. The "scanner head" began to spin with an electronic hum. "Okay, Alex. Hop on up here and lie down." Max tapped the bed invitingly.

"What does this thing do, Max?" He wasn't comfortable lying in the device without knowing what it does.

"It is an advanced brain wave scanner. Once you are inside, I can get a complete readout of your brain at a resolution 100x higher than previous technologies allowed."

Max wasn't lying, but he wasn't telling him the entire story, either. Alex decided to play along. Max continued. "So lay down here and try to relax your mind."

Alex obeyed and climbed up and into the comfortable bed. Max then lowered what appeared to be a sensor array of some kind that covered most of his body. "Are you comfortable?" asked Max and Alex nodded. "The procedure is painless. Just relax and close your eyes."

Alex closed his eyes as Max closed the lid to his "coffin". He could feel the bed moving slightly in the direction of the scanner head. He laid there for a minute and tried to relax, closing his eyes. What happened next was the strangest thing that he had ever experienced.

After a flash of colored light, Alex realized that he was no longer in his coffin. He opened his eyes and tried with much difficulty to focus them. Succeeding that, he discovered that something looked different about the room. Max came into view with a big smile on his face. "Can you hear me, Alex?" Alex found that he couldn't talk. Only a loud squeal came out.

"What the hell? What did you do to me, Max?" squeaked Alex, incomprehensibly.

"Alex," Max called in a soothing voice. "Don't worry. Everything is working perfectly!" He smiled widely, Alex squawked back at him. "This is the latest prototype of Dr. Lovecraft's greatest achievement!"

Alex's head was spinning. He wasn't completely sure what was going on, but he appeared to be in the body of one of the chimpanzees he saw lying "dead" on the gurneys. He tried to lift his head, but he could not move. His limbs would not budge.

Max continued to talk to him, explaining what had happened. After a minute, he finally felt stable enough to relax and take in what had just happened to him. He was barely catching what Max was saying to him. He focused his attention back to the young scientist.

"Close your eyes and clear your mind when you are ready to go back," he was saying.

Alex decided he was ready to go back and followed Max's instructions. A moment later there was a similar display of light and he was back in what he soon learned was called a "link bed," as Max explained to him, opening the lid. With some help from Max, Alex sat up and rubbed his eyes. He looked over to the gurney where his "other body" currently lay. "Max, are you serious?" Max nodded excitedly. "Holy shit man!" exclaimed Alex. "That was incredible!"

"Wasn't that cool? This is what Dr. Lovecraft has been working on all these years," said Max excitedly. "He finally perfected his psionic link technology; his so called 'Dark Dreamer' project." Alex put his hands on Max's shoulders trying to calm his enthusiasm a bit. "Max, it was incredible," he sighed. "But I couldn't move."

"Yes," said Max, calming down. "The chimp's DNA isn't matched with yours. If the chimp had been cloned and spliced with your DNA you probably would have felt right at home."

Alex nodded. "I see."

Max continued. "Honestly, I'm surprised it worked. Non-DNA matches usually don't synch up at all, but it was worth a try." Max pointed to one of the other chimps. Alex now noticed that they were not dead, but apparently in a catatonic state. They were clearly breathing. "That one is mine," Max explained.

Alex felt a little sorry for the animals. "What about them? Did you wipe their brains, or something?" Max held his hands up defensively.

"No," explained Max. "They are all clones grown in the lab. They only have autonomic functions with no brain activity at all. They are that way throughout their lives; empty shells."

"Wow…" Alex thought about what he had just experienced. He smiled and looked back at the equipment. "How many of these link beds are there?"

"This is the first fully operational prototype. We have several others that are currently in manufacturing." Max walked back to the control panel and shut the unit down. "We have been testing this for months and everything has checked out. All the known issues are finally solved. Even the fail-safes are fully functional. The RDA is looking to put these on the market in a few years. I imagine they are going to be massively expensive, though."

"Okay, I have to ask," said Alex, eying Max suspiciously. "Why tell me now? We could get in serious trouble for this."

"You can relax, Alex," smiled Max as he offered his hand. "Welcome to the project. The RDA wants us _both_ on this." Alex took his hand and shook with a questioning look on his face. "Are you in?" asked Max.

"Was this your idea?" he asked. "You _know_ I came here to study astronomy. What makes you think I'd want to be part of _this?_"

"I've known you long enough to realize you want something more challenging than staring at the stars." Max gestured to the device. "With this technology, we will be able to explore environments that would otherwise be inhospitable to us. Imagine exploring the ocean floor as if you are standing right there on the bottom, meanwhile you are actually safe in the control room. Imagine flying an aircraft remotely by actually experiencing it from the cockpit." Max was getting excited again. "Alex, we are talking about something that will change exploratory sciences forever."

"Okay, you got me, Max." Alex smiled and shook his hand, heartily. Thanks for bringing me on. This is really exciting stuff, but damn. I need to study up! I don't know shit about any of this."

Max laughed, "You'll be fine." He looked into the taller man's eyes. "Alex, I really think we are on to something really _big_ here."

And so began Alex and Max's careers as lead scientists on a project that would go down as one of the important in human history. Over the next 5 years, Drs. Cordell Lovecraft, Max Patel and Alex Foster would develop what would come to be known as _the_ _Avatar Program._

During that time, Cordell, Max and Alex weren't the only ones making history. Dr. Charles White, RDA Director of Sciences, had successfully survived a grueling investigation. Afterwards, he secretly ordered a new mission to explore the Alpha Centauri System. Under the guise of a long range test of the highly successful Matter/Anti-matter engine, a new probe was on its way to find out the source of those mysterious signals. It was a gamble that would cost many people their livelihoods, _or so they thought._

END CHAPTER ONE


	3. Chapter 2: Intelligent Life?

I apologize for the grammatical/spelling mistakes in chapter 1. I have gone back and made a few corrections. Please let me know your thoughts!  
From now on, I will make the chapters shorter so it doesn't take so long for me to release updates.

"Avatar" is the property of James Cameron and Twentieth Century Fox  
I take no credit or monetary compensation for the fictional world referenced in this work

* * *

**PRELUDE**: The Dreamer

_Nawm Na'ring_ looked up at the night sky from his _nivi_ and sighed. The heavens were so beautiful; he wanted to reach out and touch them. Inside his heart, the Na'vi teenager truly wanted to go to the stars – to see them up close. He didn't dare share these ideas with his clan mates. It was taboo to talk of anything that was "not the will of Eywa".

_"One day,"_ he thought. _"When I have my ikran, I will fly up there."  
_

* * *

**CHAPTER 2**: Intelligent Life?

Alex was working in the lab when the call came. After six years with his new team, Dr. Lovecraft was being nominated for a Nobel Prize in science for his work on the Avatar project. Due to a significant presence of the RDA in the scientific community, no one was surprised by the nomination. Unfortunately, the doctor was quite arrogant about it. "About damn time," he had said to the rest of his team.

What was not expected was the backlash by the animal rights community. Unbeknown to Alex, many animals (and humans) were harmed and/or killed in the development of Psionic Projection Technology. What made things worse was that Dr. Lovecraft was not apologetic about the mishaps of the past. Eventually, after weeks of debate, his nomination was revoked. The doctor was furious and he destroyed some of his lab equipment in a rage. The boys had seen him angry before (Lovecraft had a reputation for being a hothead), but working with him now had become frightening.

The next few months in the lab were very hard as a result. Stress levels were high as deadlines loomed. The RDA had a laundry list of enhancements they wanted done to the link unit's master control program and he kept "his boys" busy debugging the software. Despite his rough exterior, Lovecraft had a high level of confidence in his team's abilities and respected their work.

Today, Dr. Lovecraft was in one of his foul moods. Alex paused at his terminal and listened to the doctor on the comm. in the main lab area. He had received yet another call from the press for comments on his program regarding the disclosures recently made by the activists. The calls were constant once the revocation was made public. RDA officials were doing a lousy job screening access to his comms. This one had slipped through under the guise of a contractor trying to schedule a delivery.

"They were all clones and death row convicts!" Cordel yelled into the comm. "Do not bother me about this again!" Max nearly spilled his coffee as he looked over. The other team members just ignored him and continued their work.

"Ungrateful bastards," Cordel said under his breath after closing the comm. channel. He looked over at Alex, who had never heard the details of the early testing and was clearly bothered by what he had just heard. He was eying the doctor with folded arms.

"You used humans?" asked Alex. "They died?"

The doctor closed his eyes for a moment and bobbed his head a few times, inhaling deeply. He clearly wasn't in the mood. "Listen up, kid" exclaimed the older man. "They all volunteered for the program in exchange for a stay of their executions. Instead of getting 'the chamber', they came here and did their duty for the good of science."

"The good of science?" frowned Alex. "How many died?" asked the young man.

"Don't worry about it," the older man hissed. "Go help Max with the new start-up routine. We need that done today." Alex was about to protest, but Cordel pointed his index finger to the terminals. "Go!" he ordered in a hostile tone. Alex gave the man a hurt look.

"Alright, man," cried Alex. "You don't have to be an asshole about it. I was only asking a question."

"W-What the... Get out!" snapped the doctor, fuming. When Alex didn't move he slammed down his HoloPad, cracking the screen. "I said, _get out! Are you deaf?_"

"You know what? You're a fucking asshole!" screamed Alex as he took off his lab coat, threw it on the floor and stomped towards the elevator door. Max tried to reach over to stop him, but Cordel gave him 'the eye' to back off. Max looked sympathetically at Alex before turning back to his work. Alex acknowledged him after calming somewhat.

"I'll call you later, Max." He stared hotly at Cordel as the door opened and he spoke his floor. He rose silently to the ground floor and walked quickly out. He bumped his way past a group of people standing in the lobby without an apology and quickly found a transport to take him to the nearest mag-lev stop. This was the second time this week that Dr. Lovecraft had thrown him out of the lab.

Once he got home, he decided to research the truth regarding the doctor's test subjects. Searching the RDA database, he came up with only what he, Max and Cordel had done over the last 6 years. The rest was marked classified. He would have to talk to Max about it later; he wanted the truth.

* * *

The next morning marked an event that would be forever burned into the history books for all mankind. Alex was awoken by the comm. in the wee hours of the morning. It was Max.

"Alex!" he cried. "You're not going to believe this." The young scientist was in tears.

"Calm down, Max," Alex answered, rubbing his eyes. "Do you know what time it is?" He stared at the clock at the top right of the screen: 4:15am.

"Alex, please come quickly." Max looked down solemnly. "They found it."

"Found what?" asked Alex, concerned at this point. He had never seen his friend cry before. His anger regarding the human testing was quickly forgotten.

"They found the source of oxygen we detected when the AMST crashed." Max slammed his desk. "Smith sent a probe out there."

"What probe?" cried Alex. "We didn't send anything out there."

"You're wrong, Alex." The young doctor removed his glasses and squeezed the bridge of his nose; he had a headache. "The long range test of the matter/anti-matter drive; it was sent to Alpha Centauri along with a secret, advanced reconnaissance package." Max placed a hand on his temple. "They hid it from everyone."

"You've got to be shitting me!" Alex pulled up the media feeds. There was a firestorm of coverage happening. He selected the first one in the list:

**BREAKING NEWS**: RDA PROBE DISCOVERS HUGE MAGNETIC POWER SOURCE IN NEARBY STAR SYSTEM.

Alex clicked the link reluctantly. He watched a female reporter commentating over the backdrop of RDA science director Smith. He was actively shaking hands with people Alex assumed to be people in charge of the probe. Audio focused on the director.

"Our teams of scientists have confirmed a miraculous find at Alpha Centauri A." Director Smith was beaming with a toothy smile. "Our experimental McKimly probe has located a vast deposit of room temperature semi-conducive material on one of the moons off the second planet in the system. There is enough there to power the industry of our planet through the next millennia."

Reporters slammed him with questions. One feisty reporter broke through. "When did you make the discovery? When will we see the first missions to bring this material back?"

"The team here made this discovery about 6 years ago," explained the director gesturing to the scientists surrounding him. "The probe will arrive at the planet in the next few hours. Primary braking maneuvers have been completed and it will soon settle into orbit around the largest moon of the gas giant planet Coeus."

He moved over to a control panel and tapped the screen. A large image of Coeus appeared, its blue and purple cloud bands glowing brightly; its giant "eye" ever watchful. He then thumbed to the next image of the moon itself. A casual look could easily mistake this moon for Earth, about 30 years prior. "The probe will drop a rover into the atmosphere to land on the surface. From there, it will be piloted to one of the sources of the magnetic readings. When its mission is completed, it will return to its lander module and then return to the orbiting mothership with core samples and anything else it may have collected." He clicked the panel again, displaying an image of the orbiter. It was a huge ship; about 50 meters long. "She should return in about 8 year's time. Many experiments will be performed during the return flight which we will control from here."

The pushy reporter chimed in again. "That seems awfully large for a robotic mission," she said, referring to the image. "Couldn't you have just sent an astronaut team and not worried about remote control?"

The director smiled and laughed for a moment. "That would have been nice, yes. Truth is, the ship is so large only due to its engines." He pointed back to the image and the giant wing-like structures that protruded from the sides of the craft and extended far out from its central body. "You see, we need these giant radiators just to keep the spacecraft from cooking itself. In fact, 90% of the spacecraft is used for controlling the matter/anti-matter reaction. There is an incredible amount of energy being released and we need to protect the delicate instrument package from the intense radiation. Now, if this mission pans out, these ships could get a _lot_ smaller."

The question and answer session went on for another hour before Alex arrived with Max, both huffing strongly from haste. Alex looked up at the large screen which still had a picture of the spacecraft.

"Damn it!" cried Alex to Max. "So they really went there without us." He made a fist with his right hand. "Why weren't we brought in on this?"

Max looked back at him with caring eyes. "They wanted to keep us quiet, Alex." Max had calmed down, but sadness was in his eyes. He decided to join the discussion.

"Director Smith!" called out Max. Everyone in the room turned to see who had made the outburst.

The director looked up and his face grimaced for a moment. "Yes, Dr. Patel," he acknowledged. The director kept his cheerful nature despite the animosity he may have felt.

"Has the probe detected any life forms?" asked Max. He figured he may as well satisfy his curiosity. They could deal with the politics of the discovery later. Alex didn't seem to follow Max's passive mentality. From the glare in his eyes, he looked ready to take the director to a dark place.

"Pardon?" The director had a confused look on his face. "There wouldn't be any life in a place like that." Max's eyes widened. The director laughed before continuing. "You boys should know there isn't anything in that system that could support life."

"But we detected an oxygen atmosphere!" cried Max. "Surely the probe must be picking it up." The small crowd murmured, their faces interested.

"I'm sorry, doctor." The director was still smiling. "We haven't detected any 'little green men'." He gestured back to the crowded room. "Max Patel here thought he detected something in the system a few years ago. We confirmed it to be nothing and he _knows_ that. He doesn't seem to know how to let his mistake go." The director glared at Max in a clear warning not to take this further.

"You lie!" exclaimed Alex. The room gasped as he stomped up to the front. Max tried to stop him, but it was futile.

"Excuse me?" The director was turning beet red. Noticing he was losing composure, he smiled again and gestured to the crowd. "Dr. Foster here is a passionate man. Please excuse his little outburst." He motioned Alex to step back into the crowd.

"We found a life sustainable atmosphere there." Alex turned to address the room. RDA security was making their way up to the front. Alex pressed forward. "For some reason, this fact is being covered up."

"Son, you didn't find _anything_," The director's smile was gone now. He leaned into Alex's ear and spoke softly. "Calm down or I'll have these people throw you the _hell_ out of here. Trust me. Keep this up and you'll never work as a scientist again. Understand?" He sternly looked right into the young man's eyes. "I will not warn you again. Now, put on a happy face for the press." He bumped Alex with his elbow and smiled back at the crowd. "Okay, folks. I think we have this settled."

Alex stared into the audience. He looked back at Max who was clearly worried for the young man's safety. He decided to play it safe, for now. "Yes, I'm sorry," he apologized. "I made a mistake." He hurriedly walked out the back door of the room. Sensing his friend's distress, Max followed behind him. Alex looked very disturbed so he figured that he'd better make sure the young doctor did nothing foolish.

* * *

4 hours later, the McKimly long-range space probe was safely in orbit around the largest moon of the planet Coeus (Alpha Centauri Ac). The people of Earth were amazed by the pictures it sent back of the mysterious, Earth-like world below. While lots of long range pictures were published for all to see, close range photography and sensor data was deemed classified. Alex and Max had been watching the events unfold from the feeds on the HoloPanel in Max's office. They both had their suspicions about the classified data. RDA officials had explained the data blackout to them as "protection of their intellectual property".

"They found something, didn't they?" stated Alex. "Why else would they not show us the terrestrial photos?"

"Oh, I'll bet they found something, alright," answered Max. "The greedy bastards are just staking their claim."

Alex smirked at Max with a laugh. "Or, it might be something they didn't expect. What are the chances?" He trailed off in thought, massaging his chin.

"Alex, what are you up to?" Max smiled back at him with wide eyes. "I know that look!"

"I think it is time for a little telescope maintenance," said Alex with a big smile.

Max laughed. "I think I know what you have in mind." The scientists headed for one of the many control rooms.

Entering the empty room, Max tapped the wall panel and the lights came on. Several rows of workstations lined the room, their screens dark. They walked up to the master control station at the center of the large room and sat down together. Alex tapped the HoloScreen and it came to life. Logging in, he quickly began moving through the screens until he found his target.

"Okay, there it is," said Alex. "I'll need your override code, Max."

"Right," answered Max and he punched in the numbers. Hopefully, his codes hadn't been changed. A moment later, all of the probe's sensor data was showing on their screen in real-time.

Alex clapped with a grin, "Yes! We're in. Thanks Max." He began quickly going through the screens. Max sat at another terminal and did the same.

"My god…" exclaimed Max. "Do you see those life form readings?" Max looked up excitedly. "This planet is teeming with plant and animal life forms! No _wonder_ the brass ordered it covered up." Alex didn't answer. "Alex?" Alex was glued to his HoloScreen, his jaw falling open, mouthing an exclamation. "Alex, what are you looking at?"

Max walked over to look and he gasped at what he saw. Alex was staring at a high-resolution orbital image of the moon's surface. There stood a herd of giant animals grazing in a large meadow. Due to the angle of the orbiter, they only saw the tops of the animals. Much detail was lost as a result, but the image was still spectacular.

"They look like elephants!" cried Max with a grin, grabbing Alex's shoulders. "I _knew_ it!" He raised his palm for a high-five and Alex obliged in a triumphant smack of palms. "Send the feed directly to my servers. I want to see _all_ of it."

Alex started going through more of the images, but Max stopped him. "We need to get out of here before we are discovered," he said, logging out of the terminals. "We would be arrested if they knew what we were doing. Let's get out of here. We can examine the data from my office."

"Right," obeyed Alex as he stood up and followed Max to the door, killing the lights. "Tell you what," Alex stated. "I'm going to head home and organize some support from a few friends of mine. You stay here and look over this data. I suspect we are about to have a fight on our hands."

"Hey Alex," called Max before his companion left. "Thanks for your help."

"Of course, buddy," smiled Alex and he gave his friend a tight hug. "You know I can't resist your cute little brown ass." He squeezed the object of his desire.

"Alex!" Max smiled and shoved him away. "Now don't you start _that_ again, you _pervert_. I'm still your _boss_, you know." He shook his head with a laugh. "Now get out of here. I'll be in touch."

* * *

That night, Max burned the candle at both ends looking over the data. The atmosphere was very similar to Earth, but excessive carbon dioxide and toxic levels of hydrogen sulfide would make it inhospitable to humans. _"The exopacks could be easily modified for this,"_ thought the scientist. He happily thumbed through the images, but he wasn't ready for what he saw when he started looking through the classified material. Taken from a better angle, he saw something that would change man's view of his position in the order of the universe. _"No wonder the RDA covered this up,"_ he thought.

The time was 2 am and there was a knock on his office door. Max checked the viewer on one of the HoloPanels and pressed a button. Alex came in with a smirk on his face.

"Ok, Max," he said. "What did you find that is going to _change the world?_ No, wait! I know! You want to confess your love to me! Awww. Come here, baby…" The tall man walked behind Max's chair and put his arms around the other man's neck, ruffling his think, curly hair.

"Alex, this is serious," said Max. "Please calm yourself and look at these images."

"Okay, let me guess: Little green men?" Alex laughed.

"Actually… they're _blue_," answered Max while trying to keep a straight face. After a moment, Alex punched Max in the shoulder playfully.

"Oh, come on, Max!" kidded Alex. "You had me there for a moment. Seriously, what did you find?"

"Alex, it's true." He opened the folder with the images to display the one he wanted Alex to see. On the screen was an image of the surface showing a pack of large, horse-like creatures. What was more interesting were the blue creatures riding on their backs, carrying weapons.

"Oh, shit!" shouted Alex. "It's hard to tell from this distance, but they look almost human!" He thumbed through several screens of images featuring the mysterious blue alien life forms. "They are intelligent! Look at the tools and weapons!"

"I know," said Max. "The orbiter's rover will be deployed tomorrow. Then we will get a better look." He looked down at Alex's hands which had started to massage his chest through his shirt. "Ah, you can let go now," he laughed. "Damn, you need to find companionship."

"Aww Max," Alex cried. "I'm holding you, aren't I?" He was in a good mood tonight.

"One that is willing, perhaps?" laughed Max. "We just discovered an extra-terrestrial, _intelligent_ life-form, and you're thinking about sex. Besides, you _know_ I'm not attracted to men."

"Yes, yes… I know," said Alex, finally letting the other scientist go. "Too, bad... You are the sexist man I know. I want to make love to your hot little Indian ass _so _badly."

"Oh, my god! Alex, you are such a prude!" Max was being a good sport and was perfectly comfortable around the other man. They really were just friends, even if Alex did let his hands loose once in a while. He never took it too far; Max made sure of that. "Okay, Romeo. Why don't you go to a bar and find yourself someone fun. Tomorrow, we seriously need to talk to the Director."

* * *

Early the next morning, Max went groggily to Directors Smith's office. If he didn't get the answer he wanted, he would take his findings to the press. The reception he got was not at all what he expected.

"Dr. Patel," welcomed the director with an open arm as Max entered the lush office. A lit cigar dawned loosely in his other hand. "Please sit down."

Max refused and continued to stand. "What is the meaning of this?" he cried. "We saw the data you're hiding. There isn't just life down there. There is _intelligent_ life!"

"Yes, doctor. We know," confirmed the director solemnly as he sat down in his chair, leaning back. He took a few puffs on his cigar before continuing. "You need to understand the gravity of the situation here." He pointed to the chair floating in front of his desk. "Will you _please_ sit… down?"

Max paced side to side for a moment and finally settled into the chair. "Sir, you have to let this out to the public. This is a _first contact_ opportunity here! We need to get our best minds together to decide how to approach them!"

The director raised his hand. "Doctor Patel… Max." He tried to sound sympathetic. "We are all over this." He tapped the HoloScreen on his desk. "Sakura, please come in." A moment later, the attractive Asian secretary came in and stood by the door, awaiting instructions. Today she was in a brightly colored traditional kimono. The director said something in Japanese and she nodded before walking over to Max, smiling at him. "Thanks, sugar," ended the director with a sparkle in his eye.

"This way, please," she said in accented English, gesturing Max to stand up and follow her.

"Where are we going?" asked Max. "We aren't done here!" Not getting an answer, he looked to the director for an explanation.

"Sakura here will take you to the main control room." The director continued to drag on his cigar. His smoke lingered in the room, heavily. "I need you to assist on the McKimly mission with Dr. Chernov."

Max was stunned. "Ah, ah… excuse me?"

"You heard me, son." The director was confident. "I need you to help get that rover down there and get some of that magic rock." He leaned forward, looking into Max's eyes. "Yes, _first contact_ is important, but that magnetic material may save the human race. We need to focus our efforts there, first. For now, we need to avoid contact with the natives at _all_ costs." He looked back to Sakura with a nod.

"But, sir!" cried Max. "Why don't we want to meet them?" The director turned in his chair to face away from Max. He took another large puff on the cigar.

The woman impatiently grabbed Max's arm, losing a bit of her elegance. "Doctor, this way please." Max shook her off but was soon lifted up to his feet against his will. Apparently, she was stronger than she seemed.

"What the hell?" cried Max, looking back at the woman. She just smiled and forcibly led him out the door towards the elevator. Poor Max could barely protest as he was in pain from her grip on his arm. Reaching the elevator, she leaned in with serious eyes.

"_You _are to report directly to the main control room," she said sternly. "Do _not_ make me call a security escort." Max nodded his head in acknowledgment. She finally released his arm. "Remember, _first contact_ is being dealt with. You are not to discuss the matter with _anyone_. Is that understood?"

Max just nodded his head again and stepped into the lift, massaging his arm. She immediately returned to her graceful demeanor and bowed respectfully. However, Max detected a look of warning in her eyes. She was clearly not a friend so he decided he would not cross her again.

As instructed, Max reported to the control room. He was alarmed to the presence of security officers in the room, covering all the doors. _"What is going on here?"_ he thought as he took a seat at the table with the lead scientist.

An hour later, descent module 1 (with its enclosed rover) began its journey to the surface. Planned trajectory would ultimately place it near the equator on the planet-facing side of the moon near a mountainous area where the intense magnetic readings were strongest. Deployment was smooth and all went as planned until the module entered the upper atmosphere.

"We've lost all communication with the decent module," reported one of the technicians. "We are trying to re-establish contact."

Max could only watch in horror as history repeated itself. The technicians furiously tried to locate the lander, without success. After two hours, the lead scientist declared the rover lost. He threw his HoloPad on the table in disgust and left the room. He would have to report to the director. There would be hell to pay.

* * *

During Max's endeavors with the McKimly project, Alex was busy listing all the scientists he felt he could trust with this important new discovery. Needing serious help, he decided to contact someone that was both intelligent and strong that would fight to make sure this issue was handled properly. He opened a comm. channel to one of his professors; a woman who had impressed him while he worked through his Doctoral Dissertation; Dr. Grace Augustine.

* * *

**POSTLUDE**: Reaching for the Stars!

Maybe Nawm just wasn't cut out to be a warrior. After three attempts and failures, he finally completed _Iknimaya_ on the forth try and tamed his ikran. When he refused to participate in_ Uniltaron _he was branded a coward and deemed a traitor to the ways of The People. His clan mates laughed at him to the point that Nawm became an outcast. "We should put you with the women," they would say. "You will never be a warrior."

Honestly, he didn't care much for the idea of being a warrior. He only had one purpose for completing _Iknimaya_. Remembering his dream, soon he would take to the sky, leaving his fellow clan mates behind, _forever_.

A few weeks later, he was ready. One night, after most of the clan was asleep, he made his move and climbed up _Kelutrel_ to the ikran nesting level. He chirped softly and was greeted shortly afterwards by his magnificent friend. "Shhh, Txan," he said soothingly to the animal as he made the bond. "Tonight, we go to the stars!"

He mounted the royal blue banshee and took to the air with a rush of wind. _"Go, Txan!"_ called Nawm through the link. _"Higher! Fly as high as you can! Take us to the stars!" _The mighty animal furiously flapped its powerful wings and steadily climbed into the night sky. The air was cool and damp with clouds covering their view of the stars. Riding on Txan's powerful wings, they steadily gained altitude and soon found themselves entering the lower cloud cover. _"We are really high! Higher than anyone has dared fly before,"_ thought Nawm.

Before long, the young Na'vi sensed that his friend was starting to tire. _"How much higher do we have to go?"_ he thought. _"We have been climbing for hours!"_ Shortly afterwards, he broke through the clouds and was soon soaring above them. Excitedly, he looked up to see how much closer he was to reaching the stars. Disappointed, he encouraged his friend more, pushing him even harder.

"Higher, Txan! Higher!" he shouted out loud. The animal was tired and groaned, but began furiously flapping again and their ascent continued. A pale dawn was coming over the horizon. It would soon be morning. They needed to hurry before the stars retired for the day.

After another hour, Nawm sensed that his mount was in distress. The clouds were far below them but they didn't seem to be any closer to the stars. "What's going on?" cried Nawm. "Why aren't they getting any closer?" He discovered that he could only gasp and noticed through the link that Txan felt the same way. _We can barely breathe! _Nonetheless, he pressed onward. It couldn't be much farther! They had to hurry! "Higher! We can still make it!"

After another hour, to his disappointment, their closest star appeared brightly over the horizon. His heavenly targets soon faded away, not to be seen for another day. Nawm would have cursed, but he found that he couldn't talk at all. In fact, he couldn't breathe either. A moment later, all went white...

_He was falling._

**END **_of _**CHAPTER 2**


	4. Chapter 3: They Would Call it PANDORA

Greetings, everyone! Sorry to make you wait a month for the next installment, but I think you will like it. This story moves very fast! **Some words of warning:** For those of you who do not know what YAOI is, please do a quick search on the internet. "_There be YAOI goodness in here!" - in other words, male sexual content warning!  
_

"Avatar" is the property of James Cameron and Twentieth Century Fox  
I take no credit or monetary compensation for the fictional world referenced in this work

* * *

**PRELUDE**: Castaway

Nawm felt water at his feet and sunlight warm on his body, but everything was dark. He wasn't sure what had just happened to him. The last thing he remembered was climbing to the stars on his ikran, Txam. Was he dreaming? Was he with Eywa? No, he was becoming aware of his surroundings. He felt hot sand at his back and heard waves crashing around him. He slowly opened his eyes, grimacing. _"How long was I asleep?"_ he thought. He sat up slowly and took in his surroundings with sleepy golden eyes.

He was on an ocean beach; the waves foaming onto the sandy shore with a rhythmic roar. His mount was nowhere to be found. Himself, his weapons harness, food wrap and water skin were the only signs of civilization. Behind him stood thick vegetation with many plants he did not recognize. Standing up, he chirped loudly for Txam; no response. Panicked, he began to run along the beach. There had to be a village nearby.

After running for what seemed like an eternity, he noticed a Na'vi sized depression in the sand and slowed to a walk, a look of defeat on his angled young face. _"No…"_ he thought, his tail nervously twitching from side to side. Upon closer inspection he realized the seriousness of his predicament: he had come full circle. _"Oh, no..."_ Nawm put his hands over his eyes and sank to his knees. Tears began to roll down his cyan cheeks. _"No…"_

_He was all alone on a desert island…  
He was stranded…  
_

* * *

**CHAPTER 3**: And They Would Call it PANDORA…

Alex met Grace Augustine in Golden Gate Park. The two of them had been good friends over the last decade and they had kept in touch. They walked causally, trying not to attract too much attention. Once they felt they were alone, the scientists sat on a bench and Alex finally informed the tall woman of their situation.

"Intelligent life?" asked Grace, with a skeptical look on her face. A moment later she pulled out a cigarette and lit it, dragging on it hard, letting the taste linger and giving a delayed exhale. "Surely there must be some mistake. We've looked at that system for hundreds of years."

Alex was ready for this. "Look at these," he said, producing a HoloPad containing copies of the images. "These are all from the McKimly probe. When the rover they dropped today gets into position, we'll get a lot more detail."

Grace almost dropped her cigarette when she took the HoloPad and thumbed through the orbital images. The humanoid life forms were unmistakable and her lips tightened into a small circle before she finally turned back to the younger scientist.

"Did you fake this?" she asked. She tilted her head quizzically. "Alex... don't bullshit me!" She shook her head and laughed for a moment. "Even if these are real, most people will think it was doctored." She took a nervous look around. "Who else has seen these?"

Alex's heart sank at Grace's candid skepticism, but he kept his composure and answered her questions. "Just my colleague, Max Patel. Don't worry, he's cool."

Grace laughed. "Max..." She grinned, nodding her head repeatedly. "I remember him. You two were always so close. Are you two... you know...?" She gave Alex a sly smirk.

If his complexion were lighter, Alex would be blushing. He laughed and replied, "Only in my dreams," shaking his head. "Seriously, we have always just been friends."

"You two Indian boys seem like lovers to me," said the older scientist with a chuckle. After Alex started to show signs of being offended, she waved him off. "Don't take it personally! You two are cute together. Now, let's get back to our little dilemma."

"Right," he answered. "I need your help with this, Grace. The RDA is covering this up. Instead, they're focusing on this super-conductive material they detected. We are talking about a possible _first contact_ here! What do you think we should do?"

"I'll take these to the head of my department," she answered, copying the data to her own device and returning the HoloPad back to Alex. "They have contacts with some people in Washington. There are some cool heads there. They will know what to do with this."

They both stood up and shook hands. Alex thanked her and Grace nodded back. She left to return to her office while Alex stared at the trees in the park; their sparsely leaved branches bending easily in the light breeze. _Out there is a place where more trees exist than anyone could ever imagine._

_

* * *

_  
Sitting in the command center, Max thought meaningfully about the headline that had come over the news feed that morning:

**FIRST RDA LANDER LOST - DIRECTOR SMITH OPTIMISTIC ABOUT SECOND LANDING ATTEMPT**

The RDA never took chances on anything. They placed redundancy _everywhere_. As a result, no one was surprised to learn there was a 2nd lander aboard the orbiter. Max was assigned as the technician in charge of programming the 2nd lander's descent. He figured the director had put him there so the man could monitor his actions. _"Keep your enemies close,"_ thought Max.

Max soberly programmed the lander's flight path, double checking his work before looking back to the lead scientist and giving a nod. "We are ready," said Max with gaining enthusiasm. He was anxious to get a better look at the surface himself, all political matters aside.

A moment later, a familiar Asian woman entered the room through the back door and quietly made her way to sit next to the lead scientist. Sakura eyed Max so intensely that the young man flinched when he noticed her gaze. _"Is she here to spy on me?"_ thought Max. After a beat, he shook his head a few times before returning his attention to his console.

Dr. Chernov gave the order and Max sent his programmed routine to the spacecraft. The probe computer acknowledged the program was received without error and execution began. _"Here we go,"_ thought Max. "Command acknowledged!" he called to the room. He thumbed a control on his HoloScreen to place the front, wide-angle camera of Lander 2 on the main screen at the front of the room. A smaller, secondary screen showed the rover, stowed away safely in its container. Yet another secondary screen showed an image from the rover's point of view.

The room watched in anticipation as the lander released itself from its mother craft and started to descend towards the moon below. All systems were "go" as the lander entered the atmosphere. Max had programmed an approach that would start further from the intense readings. After some discussion with the other team members, it was determined that the magnetic fields may have been too strong to maintain communications during the first landing attempt. From the last known trajectory, the first lander likely ended up in one of many of the moon's oceans.

5 minutes later, the lander broke through the cloud cover and the surface was visible below. A plush new world appeared with trees as far as the eye could see. All was alive and green; as Earth once was. The room clapped and cheered at the marvelous site. Everyone in the room gawked at the herds of giant animals they passed by. After another ten minutes, the lander arrived at its determined landing site and was slowly making its way to the marshy surface. That's when they saw _them..._

Many in the room shrieked loudly. A woman screamed. The image on the main screen slowly panned down to show blue humanoid aliens with weapons drawn; golden eyes affixed directly on the lens as if they were looking back at the scientists. They drew back on their bows in a uniform motion.

Chernov shot up from his chair, pounding the table; intensity in his brown eyes. "Dr. Patel!" he shouted. "Abort! Emergency ascent! Go, _go!_"

Max looked up at the screen and hesitated for a moment. "Whoa..." cried Max as he punched the red _abort_ icon. He then hit the boosters and the lander immediately shot upwards; flying arrows clearly visible as the lander ascended, barely missing their target. He stopped the ascent around 1000 feet, hovering at a safe distance from the group of natives below; or so he _thought_. The room began to murmur about what they just saw. The next thing they saw on the screen was a bright flash of color. A second later, the lander appeared to be dragged by something out of view of the lens.

"Give us audio!" cried Dr. Chernov. Max complied immediately, thumbing a few pads on his HoloScreen. What they heard made the room gasp. An alien language was being shouted off-screen; an unmistakable sign of intelligence. A moment later, they all got an idea what was happening. A large, winged creature was approaching; one of the blue aliens was on its back, weapon drawn.

"Max! Get us out of there!" Chernov had gone pale with the thought of loosing their last chance to complete the mission. Lander 2 was all they had left.

Max hit the boosters again and there was a loud shriek from the creature that was dragging it. Released, the lander raced away to the sky, finally out of reach of the giant flying creatures.

"My god… It reminded me of a pterodactyl! Did we record that?" asked Chernov sprinting over to Max's terminal.

"Yes, sir," replied Max. "Video and audio have all been saved." He looked back and noticed Sakura glaring back at him. A moment later she stood up and left the room. _"What a strange bird she is,"_ thought Max.

"Don't mind her," said the older man in Max's ear. He stood back up and addressed the room. "Okay, everyone," said Chernov. "Let's try this again." He walked back to his table and sat back down. "Scan for another landing area; as far away from those bastards as we can get."

After 20 minutes of searching, an area appeared that was free of hostile activity. A very good thing, as they were running low on fuel. The lander had been jostled, but was still operating nominally. Max set it down in a clearing some 50 miles away from where the craft had almost met its doom.

"Touchdown!" called Max. All readings were in the green. There would be enough fuel for return trip if they were careful. He cut all the drive systems and looked to Dr. Chernov for his next instruction.

The doctor looked over the readings on the screen. Movement tracking was fuzzy, but indicated no activity in the vicinity of the lander. "Okay, Dr. Patel." He stood up triumphantly. "Let's explore a new world! Deploy the rover."

Max activated the deployment sequence and soon after, the lander opened its doors. A moment later, the rover came to life and floated through the opening, staying low to the ground, its scanners active to the sights and sounds of this beautiful new world teeming with unknown life forms. Soon, the instruments started to fluctuate, but control was maintained. Intense magnetic fields were influencing the readings.

"I think we are there," called out Tom, an RDA geologist assigned with the task of collecting some of the "magic rock" that was going to "save all mankind". He began manipulating his screen and the rover settled to the ground and extended a robotic arm. After a quick spin of the "hand" on the end, a drilling tool emerged. It turned to the ground and dug furiously for a moment.

"That's it, sir," the tech called out. "Magnetic signatures are matching our orbital scans." He looked back and smiled. "We found it. It really exists!"

"Excellent," replied Chernov. "Please proceed with taking the core sample. Be sure to place it in the shielded containment unit."

"Right," said the tech as he manipulated the HoloScreen buttons with precision. Everyone watched the main screen as the robotic arm drilled into the rock. A minute later, it lifted and retracted; precious cargo in hand. A storage compartment opened and the sample was placed inside.

"Good work, people!" called Chernov. "Let's bring it home."

"Sir? We just got here," Max protested. "Surely, we should do a little exploration, yes?"

"Not this trip, son." The doctor was adamant. "We need to get this back to the lab aboard the McKimly." He laughed in a huff. "You are like a kid at the amusement park, Max. Wan'na run away and ride the roller-coaster before your parents are even ready to get out of the car." He walked over and ruffled the young man's hair.

Max smiled and looked back at the doctor. "Yeah, I guess you could say that." His eyes drifted over to Sukura and he dropped his smile. He had not noticed she'd returned. The petite woman shook her head at him with a frown and folded her arms. _"What is with her?" _thought Max.

* * *

With the rover safely aboard, the lander hit its boosters as Max monitored its progress back to the mothership where it docked without incident. An intensive battery of tests began the moment to sample was transferred to the probe's onboard laboratory. Just as Max was about to start looking over the initial results, there was a strong hand on his shoulder. He looked back to see Sakura frowning down at him.

"Let's go," she said stiffly in her poor, accented English; her kimono sleeve brushing against his back. Max began to protest, but she strengthened her grip on his shoulder. Clearly, she was giving him a warning as he winced slightly. He took one last look at the data before finally standing, following her lead out the back door. Dr. Chernov waved silently to Max and mouthed, _"Good luck."_

"I warned you!" she whispered loudly in his ear as they walked. "I told you 'tell no one', but you 'no listen." She huffed loudly. "I' been ordered 'deal with you."

"What do you mean, deal?" protested Max, nearly stumbling from her aggressive lead down the hallway. They appeared to be headed to the transport platform. "I demand to know where you are taking me!"

"Be quiet!" she scowled. "Move!" She shoved him and Max tripped to the floor landing on his knees. He cried in pain as he was lifted back up again by the woman's strong arm.

"What _are_ you?" Max cried, suspecting that her unusual strength was not natural.

"You' been reassigned," she said, ignoring his question. "We' going to Aerospace Design Lab 1. You now work under Mr. Witzhur." She shoved him again and he nearly fell a second time.

"There's no reason to push me around so much," pleaded Max, his sore shoulder not being able to take much more. "Hey! Take it easy!" he cried as Sakura pushed him down forcefully into the lightly padded seat of the transport car. "What did I ever do to you?"

She just stared forward blankly, maintaining her grip on Max's shoulder as the car moved forward, both of them sitting on the front bench of the vehicle. "You' really cause 'lot of trouble," she said in a quieter tone. She finally released her grip and Max rubbed his sore shoulder tenderly. "You disobey' our order! How dare you talk to the Press!" She huffed and shrugged her shoulders while looking down at her knees. "We need that material. Earth' dying! You, of _all_ people, understand this!"

Max went wide eyed. "Press? I never… Oh!" He figured Alex must be up to something and laughed lightly. "I see… So, you must have quite a mess."

"Not funny!" She placed her hand on his shoulder again and squeezed, frowning at the young man.

"Ow, ow… okay!" cried Max. "I'm sorry. Please… let go." Her face relaxed a bit and she released her grip again. She no longer appeared upset and stared ahead blankly, clearly in deep thought.

"What is _your_ role in all this?" asked Max. He hesitated for moment before continuing. "And how did you get so strong?"

She actually smiled for a moment. "I'm not 'monster, if that' what you think." She slid her Kimono sleeve up a bit to reveal a tattoo. On her right shoulder was a small, but elaborate color image of a tiger. "I train' whole life. I' kill you with one move." She smirked for a moment before going back to her sad pose. "No more question'. Be quiet for remainder of 'journey."

Max was about to talk again, but decided against it when she eyed him with a warning and snapped her arm, the hand stopping millimeters from his face. The movement was so quick that Max only heard the ruffle of her long sleeve in the wind. He instinctively jumped back and raised his arms slightly in surrender.

He kept his mouth shut until they arrived at their destination. Despite his fears, Max was now fascinated with his strange escort and wondered what mysteries she was hiding.

* * *

Alex ended his 20th VidComm call of the morning before taking a break. He leaned back in his chair and sipped hot coffee. Grace was still actively talking away, engaged in her conversation. She too had made many calls, but showed no sign of fatigue. The various news organizations they were calling were furiously taking notes from the amazing scoop they were being given.

"…and remember… this is an anonymous source. Got it?" Grace was very _to the point_, accenting her statement with a pointed finger at the screen. The receiving party always acknowledged readily. In some cases, the scientists had been talking to the head of the organizations' news department. They were all very cooperative and took the story very seriously, especially once they saw the pictures. Coming from Grace, a respected _tenured_ professor at Stanford who had published many science articles and books, they did not doubt the authenticity of the information. In turn, Alex had provided plenty of evidence to help them confirm the story.

Alex smiled at her, keeping the mug to his lips. "You always did let people know who's boss, Grace."

She looked up and smiled back. "With something like this, we'd better control the flow of the conversation. It could get out of control in an instant. If one of these idiots spreads incorrect information, it could be like opening Pandora's Box. There would be chaos."

"Yeah," pondered Alex softly, turning to look out the window of Grace's apartment; looking down from the 6th floor to the bustling city below. The Sun was out for a change and the air was clear enough that many people were not wearing their exo-packs. "I wonder what's happening with Max. I haven't heard from him since he was moved to the McKimly project."

"Oh… he won't be with that team for long after this story breaks," stated Grace. "All Hell is going to break loose and you had better hope your boyfriend has some common sense."

Alex exhaled in discomfort. "Max is a smart guy. He will know what to do."

* * *

At 11:01PM that night, the story broke. Alex was at home in his apartment staring at his HoloPanel when the feed updated. The headlines were amazing:

**INTELLIGENT LIFE FOUND ON FAR AWAY PLANET**

**CONFIRMED: WE ARE NOT ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE**

**LUSH GREEN WORLD DISCOVERED AT ALPHA CENTAURI**

**LIFE FOUND IN OUTER SPACE:  
RDA PLANS MANNED MISSION TO FAR AWAY PLANET**

**ALIEN LIFE FOUND…**

Alex never finished reading the current screen. "Wait… What?" He immediately thumbed back to the previous headline. "No way… You've got to be shitting me!" He immediately called Grace. She answered on her portable comm.

"Yeah, Alex," she answered immediately. She was on a crowded train heading back to her apartment in downtown Palo Alto. "I see that the story broke."

"Yes… but Grace… Did you say _anything_ to them about a manned RDA mission?" exclaimed Alex with wide brown eyes.

"A what?" Grace paused for a moment and closed her eyes. "Alex, I have no idea where they would have gotten that idea. It didn't come from me."

Alex massaged his chin for a moment. "You don't think Max had something to do with this, do you?" He turned to his other HoloPanel. "Grace, let me give you a call back. I think the box just got opened." After terminating the call, he thumbed furiously on his panel, making a remote connection to Max's office computer. Luckily, no one had yet discovered the backdoor rootkit he had put there.

"_Okay, Max,"_ thought Alex. _"What have you been up to?"_ It didn't take him long to figure out Max's reassignment. _"Grace sure called that one… He's working under an __Alger Witzhur…__"_ He made a face. _"That name sounds familiar…"_ He ran a quick search from his other HoloPanel. The first result answered all of his remaining questions. _"Well now, I guess that confirms the mission."_ Alex laughed lightly to himself as he closed his connection to Max's office and read up on _Alger Witzhur_, the man responsible for the modern day application of Matter/Anti-Matter technology to space travel. He was considered the _god_ of modern deep space flight.

* * *

"Grace," called Alex as the tall woman entered his apartment. She had come right over at Alex's insistence. "It looks like the mission is for real. They brought in Alger Witzhur… and… I found _these_." He brought up a schematic on the HoloScreen which showed the exoskeleton of a large vessel of some kind.

Grace paused and nodded her head. "No, shit!" she exclaimed. She smiled and patted Alex on the shoulder before continuing. "So they're building a ship, huh?"

"That would be my first guess," confirmed Alex. "I found these nosing around on the RDA network. Damn, I thought their security would be better."

"Tell me you covered your tracks in there," said Grace with a concerned look. "We aren't talking about something stupid like changing someone's grade here!" Alex laughed, but Grace slapped her hand on the desk. "Alex, this is _dead_ serious. I really hope you know what you are doing."

"No worries, Grace!" Alex looked confident. "My method was fool-proof. They'll never know I was there." He looked back at the screen and the long, slender design. _Inter-Stellar Vehicle Magellan_ was labeled in the bottom-right corner of the drawing. "Damn, this thing's big!"

Grace leaned in to take a closer look. "This is dated 5 years ago." She turned and looked Alex in the eyes. "It is likely that this has already been constructed. With all the projects the RDA has going at the Luna Shipyards, I'd doubt anyone would have really noticed. Especially if it were constructed in sections and not fully assembled." She looked back at the image and laughed. "Those sly dogs… They were going to sneak off without us." She stood up. "Let's go, Alex. I want to talk to the AP reporter that broke this part of the story."

* * *

Max wasn't really sure why he had been sent to the Magellan project. His field was genetics, not aerospace. It wasn't until Dr. Lovecraft arrived that he began to get a sense for what was going on. By this time, his Psionic Link Technology had been fully debugged and was ready for full service. The RDA had manufactured hundreds of the link beds and scanners; their initial purpose to allow humans to drive bio-mechanical vehicles for use in adverse conditions. These vehicles took various forms, including airborne and amphibious transport craft. A few of them were even weapons platforms. A human driver would link with a "brain" manufactured from the driver's own DNA which was installed in the vehicle. Most of the link units were immediately sent to the military for testing on the front lines. Ten were assigned to the Magellan project, along with twenty or so vehicles to drive.

Max would spend the next year studying the perfected link units and artificial brains. However, the RDA never allocated resources for him to clone his own brain, so he could not drive the vehicles himself. Lovecraft had that pleasure all to himself, for the time being. There was intense training on learning to drive and Lovecraft was still perfecting the manuals.

Soon, they would be leaving for Luna Station. The Valkyrie shuttle would arrive tomorrow and all their gear was being transferred. Armed guards were everywhere; ex-military personnel working for the RDA. Their project was so top-secret, they stayed on 24 hour lockdown. No electronic communications of any kind were allowed to leave or enter the facility.

Max's "quarters" more resembled a holding cell. There were no amenities to speak of, not even a sink; just a cot and a desk. It was also very noisy with load lifters running constantly, moving cargo in preparation for their departure. He would not be getting much sleep tonight.

"_I need to get a message to Alex,"_ Max thought. "_There must be a way to get a message out of here…"_

He was still being escorted by Sakura _everywhere_. However, she was no longer crushing his shoulder to lead him around and had softened her stance a bit. With this new development, she might be his only chance to contact Alex. That is, if he could convince her. She was currently standing outside, guarding his doorway. He decided to take a chance and approached her, addressing her as politely as he could.

"Sakura… sama," guised Max, trying to flatter her a bit. She held her stance steady and didn't even turn to look at him. "Ah… Can I ask you a question?"

"What is it?" she replied coldly, without facing him. She didn't move a muscle.

"Please come inside," asked Max, placing his hand lightly on her shoulder. "I think we may be able to help each other."

She looked at him for a moment, but turned back. "I need nothing from you! Leave me alone!"

"Why are you so angry?" pleaded Max, walking out to face her. She averted his gaze, but in a bold move, Max grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. The short, agile woman reacted swiftly and threw Max to the floor. Max never knew what hit him. She immediately went back to her solemn stance. After a minute, Max stiffly sat up and faced her again.

"Please, _talk_ to me!" he pleaded. "I desperately need your help!" He reached for one of her sleeves and got on his knees in a gesture he hoped she would find respectful.

Sakura looked down at the young doctor and sighed, her face softening. "Okay... We' talk." She turned and walked into Max's quarters. The young doctor got to his feet and followed behind her. He slid the clear polymer door shut, not that it provided much privacy, but it did cut down the noise slightly. She sat on his cot and looked at Max impatiently. "Talk!"

Max pulled up the desk chair and leaned forward towards her. "I need to get a message to Dr. Alex Foster."

Her eyes went wide and she stood up. "Absolutely not!" She started to walk out, but Max caught her by the sleeve again, the fabric pulling away and exposing her shoulder, tattoo exposed again on her soft skin. She yanked the garment away from him and straightened it. Max noticed a slight blush at her nose. Caught off-guard, she turned away from him, her hands over her face. She finally broke.

"You must do this," she stated sadly. "You' go to moon and bring back superconductor. Save life…" Her voice began to break up. Max looked at her face using the pale reflection from the door. She had started to cry.

"Oh…" said Max quietly. "Why do you need this material so badly? Tell me, _please_."

She slowly turned back and returned to the cot; hands over her face. Her cheeks were bright red and a trace of tears showed on her delicate face. She choked back a cry and began her story.

"What I' about to say, tell no one." She reached out and touched Max's knee endearingly. "Please…" Max nodded in agreement. Satisfied, she continued. "I come from' Japanese island of Okinawa. My family' long line 'martial arts tradition." She started to regain her composure as she got into her story. "As I' sure you know. RDA want' to build 'train there." She looked down at her hands and placed them inside her kimono sleeves. "Okinawa poor. Children' starving." She paused for a moment. "Train' bring jobs." She looked up at him with pleading eyes. "We' strong warrior. Job' easy for us. Earn better way of life! Feed' children!" She broke up and started to cry again.

Max reached over and patted her shoulder. She jumped up and squeezed him tightly, sobbing into his shoulder. In the emotion of the moment, he barely noticed that she was hurting him. When she finally let go, he winced and wearily sat back in his chair. Noticing this, she smiled for a moment.

"You see? We' very strong! We' build' train!" She grabbed Max's shoulders and looked him squarely in the eyes. "RDA need' superconductor' to build' train. 'Understand?" She released her grip and stood up. "Dr. Foster' nothing but trouble. But I' try trust' you." Max sighed and was about to protest, but she ignored him. "I' give him your message on one condition: You bring back' semiconductor."

Max thought for a moment before finally nodding his head, "Okay. I will help bring it back."

She smiled and sat back down. "Now… What' you need' say to him?"

Max smiled back. "First off, tell him that I'm okay. Also tell him that we are leaving tomorrow and I want to help get him on board with the Magellan program." His eyes went serious. "I… _we_ need him!"

"Okay, Dr. Patel…" She paused. "Max…" She leaned down and kissed his temple. "Thank you for helping us."

She stood up and turned back to the door, exiting quickly and stood back at her post. Max could only pray that she would get his message through.

* * *

Alex and Grace met a young man at a downtown coffee shop in Palo Alto. He had agreed to talk in agreement for first dibs on any new information. After a lengthy talk, it was revealed that another employee within the Magellan project had leaked information to the press, but the reporter refused to say who.

"_Max,"_ thought Alex.

They continued talking for another hour before the doctors agreed to give the young man a copy of the stolen schematics. Just as they were wrapping up their meeting, the reporter stopped as he was about to walk away.

"Oh, I forgot to ask," he said cheerfully. "What's the name of this paradise they are flying out to?"

Alex and Grace looked at each other for a moment. The true scientific name was Alpha Centauri Ac-c, but that was too boring for a story. Grace smiled after a moment of thought. "_Pandora_… It's called _Pandora_."

* * *

**POSTLUDE:** A Strange Companion

After several day cycles, Nawm had determined he would be stranded on this island for a long time. Thankfully, he was a good waterman and caught his fill of fish to sustain him. A fresh water lake in the center of the island quenched his thirst.

Even though the island contained a small, dense vegetation ring around the lake, there was no wildlife. He was greeted with no sounds except the roar of the ocean waves rolling against the sandy beach. His island was a beautiful, but very lonely place.

On the 14th day of his isolation, he started the first of several attempts to escape. Using his advanced Na'vi skill as a weaver, he used materials from fallen trees from the small forest to build a makeshift raft. It was sturdy and very well made, but the ocean currents seemed to swirl around the island. No matter how hard he paddled or kicked, he could not beat the force of the ocean.

He tried his raft several times from different points of departure along the island, all ending in the same result. He huffed in disappointment after the 10th try. _"This isn't going to work. Eywa clearly wants me to stay. But why?"_

Resigned, he pulled the raft back to his "home" which he had constructed out of deadwood collected from the forest. It was crude, but would give him some protection from the rains. He walked along the beach slowly, deep in thought. He was so lonely… A Na'vi without his clan was like a fish out of water. He decided to lie on the beach in his favorite spot and nap in the warm sun. He thought of Hometree and his clan mates; his ikran… and a tear came to his eyes. He wanted to go home.

He lay there and slept for a few hours in the morning sun. When he woke, he jumped and immediately went to a fully defensive stance; bow drawn. "Oh, Eywa!" he cried as he stared at the strange shiny object that had washed ashore before him. It sat on the beach, lifeless with waves crashing against it. Sensing that there was no immediate danger, Nawm stayed his bow and slowly walked over to the beached derelict.

Standing next to it, he curiously looked it over. It showed no signs of life but was colorfully decorated and had strange symbols he did not recognize. Slowly, he reached his hand out to touch it. The surface was cool and smooth under his four-digit hand. Feeling a little more confident, he explored it more aggressively, eventually trying to pry it open to see if there was anything inside. Failing this, he climbed on top and looked over all the various antennae that extended from it. Most were straight and long, like a spear. A few looked like round, shiny flower petals. Nawm smiled at the later and reached down to touch one of them.

The small metal flower was cool to the touch. A moment later he felt it move under his fingers. He immediately pulled his hand back and looked away as his heart pounded, breathing intensely. His ears perked up as he heard noises coming from the strange flower.

Once the noise stopped, Nawm looked back and his yellow eyes went wide. The flower had extended and took a shape similar to the other antennae, but retaining the petals at the end. _"How beautiful,"_ he thought and reached out again. _"It must have grown."_ He then noticed that the petals had opened wider and small, motionless tendrils had extended from the center of the flower. He focused his eyes closely at the tendrils and pondered over them. They were like none he had seen before. Instinctively, he reached for his queue and placed the end of it near the flower's center, but there was no response. Puzzled, Nawm extended his own tendrils from his braid and willed them to connect with the strange "queue" before him. He went wide-eyed and his jaw dropped as his flexible membranes wrapped tightly around the flower's tendrils.

"Whoa!" cried Nawm as he received a jolt through the bond. He sensed no soul of any kind from the other side, but the jolt was powerful… even pleasurable.

Nawm smiled slighted and gasped when the jolt happened again. "Oh..." He closed his eyes for a moment as his body began to respond to the mental stimulation. He relaxed and slowly let himself settle to the hard surface of the strange device and extended his legs outward over the edge to let them dangle. His mouth started to open slowly and he moaned softly with each pulse from the link. His whole body began to tremble; his feet outstretched instinctively with each pleasurable sensation. "Oh, Eywa…"

He began to breathe heavily and slowly reached under his loincloth to pleasure himself further. "Ah… ahaha…" He moaned in pleasure and arched his back as he felt a huge release of mental energy shoot from his mind through the bond to the other side. Pushing the loincloth to the side, He came intensely, pouring his seed all over his chest and even getting a bit on his chin.

As he began to settle down from his sexual stimulation, he felt something return through the link. He looked over at the flower with a loose smile. The returning signal built up to a point where the bond began to feed back in his mind. Nawm arched his back again; mouth and eyes wide open as the signal pleasured every part of his body. After a moment, it was more than he could handle and he disconnected his queue, huffing intensely. He was totally spent. It was the most erotic thing he had ever experienced in his life.

He lay there on top of the strange object for an hour, recovering from the experience. It was midday and the sun was high in the sky. He looked over at the flower again and saw that it was now shining a bright red light from its tendrils. It went on and off in a repeating pattern. Nawm smiled. "I guess you enjoyed that, too."

He jumped off the device, ran up the beach and walked through the small forest to the island's central lake. There, he bathed and thought of the incredible experience he just had. He smiled to himself. "I'll have to do that again."

**END **_of_** CHAPTER 3**

* * *

To be continued…


	5. Chapter 4: All Ahead Full!

Hello everyone! Sorry for the long wait. I have had this chapter near completion for quite some time now, but didn't have time to finish it until now. I hope you enjoy it! Also, one clarification. This story is not a pairing of Max and Grace. I'm sorry if the description might be misleading in that way. If anyone was confused, I apologize. Don't worry, there will be some very interesting pairings in this story! Thanks for reading.

"Avatar" is the property of James Cameron and Twentieth Century Fox.  
I take no credit or monetary compensation for the fictional world referenced in this work.

* * *

**PRELUDE**: Addiction

Nawm now spent hours a day connected to the strange contraption. Every time he climaxed, the feedback loop would start, releasing pulsing energy into his system like a drug. After a week, he was hopelessly addicted. He'd lay on top of the machine, naked in the hot sunlight, sweating profusely with a goofy smile. In a misguided sense of comfort, he began to decorate the device in the style of his clan using the raw materials from the island. Before long, he began to live on top of the device having transferred everything from his makeshift shelter to the metal monstrosity.

The metal flower would pulse brightly for a while every time he "bonded" with it. He figured if he was going to be stuck there, he may as well try and make the best of his situation. He tried bonding with every visible appendage in an attempt to increase his trill factor. Eventually, he found an interesting spot on the device that was smooth to the touch and clear like glass. Having pressed a finger upon the glass, it came to life and pretty pictures appeared. The boy smiled for when he touched the pictures, they would respond in interesting ways, following his finger. It was like a game and he had quite the time with it. He playfully moved the pictures around. Sometimes they would move, other times they would just reveal more pictures. He thumbed away, have a good time amusing himself.

The metal flower was abuzz with activity, flashing away.

_Nawm was just a young Na'vi male having a good time…  
The politicians of Earth would be having a panic attack._

* * *

**CHAPTER 4**: All Ahead Full! Destination: Pandora!

"Are you certain about this?" cried the Director into the HoloPanel on his desk.

"Confirmed. We are picking up signals from the first lander. It has sustained heavy damage, but the communications array appears to be operational. We are receiving its distress beacon and various other messages."

Director Smith beamed chilly blue eyes at the young female intern through the visual comm channel. "What other signals are you getting?"

"They are extraneous bursts of random data. It is occurring several times a day. We figured it was probably a malfunction, but the data is organized in a way that doesn't make sense. They are no errors in the data. It is as if the ground-test computer just started sending random commands."

"Can we take control of the computer?"

"No, sir. All we have is comms."

The director groaned, dismissed the young girl and closed the channel. He sat back in his office chair and massaged the cigar in his mouth for a minute. Having a thought, he sat up and opened a channel to Max's office on Luna Station.

* * *

"Max Patel", answered the groggy-eyed scientist. He had just climbed into bed a few minutes before Sakura had knocked on the door to his quarters.

"Doctor, I hope you are enjoying your stay at Luna. I hear the scenery is quite spectacular." The director seemed to be in a cheery mood. Sensing Max's annoyance, he got to the point. "Listen, Doctor. I'm holding an important call for you."

"Sir," answered Max quickly, rubbing his eyes. "Can this wait until the next day cycle?" The scientist had just finished a marathon briefing by the development team of the experimental Magellan spacecraft. He had endured a very long and stressful day getting up to speed.

"I think you'll want to take this, son." The director smiled and thumbed the screen to his right. An image of his best friend and a familiar professor appeared on the screen. They appeared to be in a holding cell.

"Alex! Dr. Augustine! What is going on? Director Smith! I demand…"

"Doctor, please calm down." The director appeared in the bottom-right corner of Max's screen. "They can't hear you." He grinned with a huff. "Here's the deal… These two have broken enough laws to have them put away for the rest of their natural lives. Now, the truth is this: They have been released to our custody to do with as we please." He paused for a moment, clearly in thought. "I'm assigning them to you. Expect them within the week."

Max couldn't believe his ears. He glanced over at Sakura. The woman was standing outside his door as usual, but he swore he could make out a slight hint of a curve to the side of her mouth. _"Sakura…"_

"I have a project for them. I'll send the details shortly. Smith, out." The comm. screen closed and the display went back to Max's picture of his parents, vacationing in Hawaii. He laughed at the thought of being on vacation right now.

The young man stood from his desk and walked over to the door. Sakura turned for a moment and gave him a quick wink and a smirk. She quickly motioned him to step away from the door. Clearly, they were being watched.

"_Right,"_ thought Max and he walked back over to his desk as his HoloScreen chirped. The data had arrived. Max looked it over furiously. _"Hmm… how strange…" _He lay back in his bunk, thinking about what he had just read. It almost seemed as if something (or someone) was trying to communicate using their crashed lander.

* * *

_A few hours earlier…_

The pictures were everywhere. Blue, humanoid aliens graced almost everything with a screen that could display it. The news shows were buzzing with commentary from so-called "experts" trying to explain away what everyone saw. RDA officials had refused to comment on any of it, but Max and Grace had been very convincing. Once the story broke, they were immediately invited by every celebrity talk-show host trying to boost their ratings. They only got through part of one interview before they were picked up by government officials and incarcerated. The show's host was questioned and released.

"Nice going Doc," taunted Alex once the door to their cell locked behind them. Grace just gave him her "tilted-head" warning gaze. Alex laughed at her and she popped him one on top of his head. "Oh, come on, Grace!" He laughed and patted her on the shoulder. She calmed down and smiled.

"Hands off, Doctor!" She was fully in jest, but got to business. "We need to figure out how to get out of here."

They didn't have to wait very long. Director Smith showed up shortly with a posse of RDA staff and reporters. Clearly, the reporters were not welcome and were shooed away by staff once he arrived at their holding cell.

"Well, well…" smiled the imposing man. "You two want trouble? You got it!" He paced around in front of their cell for a minute. "I'm not so sure what to do with you two. I could have you both put away for life." He stopped as a petite, young Asian woman in a black kimono walked up to him and whispered into the man's ear. He nodded shortly afterwards and the girl stood at his side, stoically. Alex and Grace just stared, awaiting the man's decision.

"Putting you two away would just be a waste of resources." He started pacing again. "It's my job to manage _resources_… that includes _people_. It'd be a damned shame to throw these fine people away, yes?" The staff echoed in agreement. "That's what I thought. Get 'em outta there. Bring 'em to my office."

* * *

A week later, Alex and Grace were put on a Valkyrie shuttle, destined for Luna Station. A stoic, young Asian woman was their escort – Alex scowled the moment he saw her. Sakura just gave him a stone faced frown. Grace gave Alex a puzzled look. "Friend of yours?" she asked with a laugh. Alex just leaned back and sighed. It would be a long trip.

From the RDA Palo Alto Spaceport, the shuttles took 6 hours to get to Luna Station, located on the near-side of the moon's surface, dead center. Alex was surprised to find Sakura sitting in the seat next to him during the trip. She turned to look at him with a smile. Alex backed away, skeptical.

"Okay, what does psycho bitch want?" Alex looked genuinely terrified. Grace looked over to the small, kimono clad woman and laughed.

"Alex, why so rude?" Grace winked at him. "She's cute. You two should go out, that is, if Max doesn't mind."

"Grace, that isn't funny! This woman is crazy!"

"I' no crazy!" Sakura cried, her young face surprised. She patted Alex's hand. "I help get Alex to Max. Max' help me. We have deal!" She smiled proudly for a moment and stood up from her seat. "You all behave and we' all be happy. Understand?"

The two scientists looked at each other before nodding back. "Yes, sir!" shouted Alex sarcastically. Sakura smacked him in the back of the head and walked off in a huff toward the front of the shuttle. A beefy Marine remained at their side to "keep an eye on the troublemakers".

"Has anyone told you what our mission is?" Alex asked Grace. "I haven't been told squat."

"Not a clue, Alex. Rest assured that whatever it is, we aren't going to like it."

A few long hours later, the shuttle made its approach to the Neil Armstrong International Lunar Station (or simply _Luna Station_). Looking at the base from orbit, there wasn't much to see; just a small array of towers and a large bay door. The base itself was constructed underground. The RDA had made the initial construction investment and for the base's first decade it had served as a private outpost. However, after intense international pressure, the RDA had finally agreed to allow part of the base to be opened to the general public. However, the orbital shipyard would remain the sole property of the RDA and was off-limits to non-personnel. The shuttle would pass through the bay doors to dock at the station. This would be Alex and Grace's first stop before gaining transport to the shipyard via space elevator. All were very groggy when they finally touched down and the bay doors were closed over them. A flexible tunnel was then connected to the shuttle's port-side airlock door.

"Get off me," cried Alex, lightly pushing Sakura away from his shoulder. The young woman had fallen asleep and eventually made her way to him for support. Alex, fearful for any consequences, had opted to leave her be, but now he had had enough.

"Aww, Alex," smiled Grace. "She is awfully cute when she isn't acting like a total bitch. I have a feeling about you two!" She winked suggestively.

"Ha… Very funny." Alex smirked back as he shook the girl lightly, trying to wake her. When she came to, she was not amused. She snapped upright immediately, stood up and stomped towards the airlock door. The low gravity lent quite a bounce to her step.

"Let's go," she eventually called back. "We have to check in and eat lunch before we ascend."

Alex glanced carefully at her face. She was clearly blushing. "Oh, my god…" Alex buried his face in his hands. "You don't think…"

"Yes!" exclaimed Grace with a laugh. "You completely caught her off-guard. I think she likes you."

Sakura stomped her foot. "Move your ass!" She looked very upset and folded her arms. Exclaiming something in Japanese, she walked out the airlock and waited on the other side of the door as the scientists made their way through the 60 something feet of Jetway to the main hangar.

Having passed through the inner airlock, Alex looked up in amazement at the enormous room. "I've only ever seen pictures of this place. They do it no justice." He whistled as he took a mental estimate of its size. "You could put two aircraft carriers in here!" He glanced around, noticing the exposed faces. "Wow... The air is cleaner here than it is on Earth. No exo-packs!"

Grace nodded in agreement. "Yes, it is quite impressive. That is, until you read the history of this place." The tall woman looked around the room with serious eyes as they walked. "Hundreds of people died building this base. The RDA used cheap labor from the 3rd world. I suggest you read into it before misplacing any more admiration."

"Yeah, doc… I hear you." Alex now felt like he was walking through a tomb. "Yeah… thanks a lot." All the tall support structures made him think of being in a cathedral.

Cranes and loaders were everywhere. New, fully armed MKII AMP suits were lined up against one wall. The pilots were milling around at the end of the row. They snapped to attention when a person of some military authority appeared.

"Damn," exclaimed Alex. "Some serious firepower in here. They look like they are preparing for war."

"They probably are," answered Grace. "Remember, there is still a fierce upraising going on in Central America. The poor guys probably came from there. The RDA scoops up all the discharged soldiers and ropes them into indentured servitude."

Alex looked over the row of soldiers as their commanding officer walked the line, inspecting his pilots. Burly men and woman looked hard and stood fast, uttering "Yes, sir!" every few seconds. Each was wearing camouflage fatigues and had a riffle slung over their shoulders. Their boots had a spit-polish shine. Everyone looked sharp.

"Glad they're on our side," chuckled Alex as they walked past them towards the main gate where they would check in and rest before ascending to the shipyard.

The soldiers relaxed after a stern "at ease" was shouted and they started to mill around again. One muscle-clad Afro-American lad eyed up Sakura and whistled at her. "Hello mama!" he jived. Sakura glanced over at the man, but did not respond. She continued her pace past the man, only he stepped out in front of her, blocking her path. "I just called you out, sweet thing. Ummm, um. You are one sexy woman. What's your name, sugar?" Alex began to feel sorry for the man and giggled. Grace was appalled, not getting what was about to happen.

Before he knew what hit him, Sakura had this huge man, easily twice her size, on the floor in a headlock between her thighs. The man struggled, but could not throw her off. The rest of the soldiers looked on with stunned expressions, clearly amazed at the young girl's strength. The man's struggle slowed as he began to gasp for air. "You' no respect!" she yelled before letting the man go. The soldier lay there for a moment before slowly making it back on his feet, walking back to his comrades.

"Crazy bitch! Freak!" He shouted while looking back at her, straightening his uniform.

Sakura looked back at him for a moment and her cheeks went red. She charged at him, but was restrained immediately by several soldiers. She bucked and screamed at the man, but her captors had a good hold on her arms. "Take it easy, sister!" said the man on her left, fighting to control her arm. "Damn, you're strong!"

"Let me go!" she screamed. "I' no FREAK!" The men laughed at her broken English and mocked her, imitating her voice. "Stop… please!" she cried, loosing her resolve. They laughed even harder. One man even started cat calls.

Broken, Sakura stopped struggling, clearly hurt by the gesture. Alex and Grace made their way over as the men released the girl and she fell to her knees. The men just laughed at her even more as they walked back to their huddle. "Man, she _is_ a freak show! I think she's really a robot! No girl is that strong..." One of the female pilots popped the man on the back of his head.

"Watch it, jack-off!" she exclaimed.

"Damn, girl! Sorry!"

"Whatever, man." She looked back at the scientists and their Asian escort, who was making her way back to her feet. "You idiots could probably learn something from that psycho bitch. She fights better than all of you pussies."

"Alright, knock it off, people!" Their superior had made his way back and was not amused. "Line up!" The men scrambled back to Inspection. The stocky sergeant looked back at Sakura and smiled for a moment. He approached and leaned into her ear. "Miss… if you ever need a job. Look us up. You' got some serious skills."

"No, thank you," she responded with a curtly small bow. The man nodded in acknowledgment. The trio began walk again.

"Are you okay?" asked Alex. Sakura ignored him and picked up her pace, kimono ruffling noisily. "Geez, you are a little wacky," he said softly as he and Grace picked up their pace to match hers, bouncing along in the Lunar gravity.

* * *

Having checked in through security, they made their way to the main community complex to rest a bit and get lunch before heading up to their ultimate destination. Sakura was solemnly quiet, saying nothing to the scientists. She just walked steadily forward, Alex and Grace silently following behind. They both sensed something was wrong, but Sakura was unresponsive to their inquires. She had a sad look about her and didn't say a word even as they sat down for some lunch.

The cafeteria was crowded and noisy. They all took their standard lunch ration (everything was pre-fabricated) and navigated the room, looking for a place to sit. It took a while for them to find a table. The scientists sat across from their distracted escort. Alex and Grace looked at each other and then stared back at Sakura, who wasn't eating her food. She just stared into nothingness, deep in her own thoughts.

"Sakura, please talk to us," said Grace, trying to be sympathetic. Failing that, she got more aggressive. "Sakura, look at me!" That got a response as the young woman slowly turned to acknowledge to older woman. "You can talk to us. Forget about those Jarheads, if that is what's bothering you."

She muttered something in Japanese, softly to herself. Grace gave her a frustrated look. The girl sighed and finally started to talk back. "They' assholes…"

Grace smiled at the girl's jibe. "Yes, they are. Don't let them bother you. You know, there is no reason we all can't be friends."

"All I care is 'you get Max Patel safe' to Centauri!" she cried. "He gonna help save my people! No time for play! Eat, eat!" She pointed to their food trays. "We need to hurry up. 'Depart in twenty-four hour."

"We don't ascend to the shipyard for twenty-four hours?" asked Alex. "Damn, then what is the rush? We need to find a hotel?"

"No! We leave in twenty-four hour' for Centauri!"

Grace's mouth fell open. "You can't be serious. You mean the ship is _ready_?"

"Yes," the girl confirmed. "Been ready' many month'."

"No shit…" exclaimed Alex, dumbfounded. "Damn, the RDA is serious about this."

Having wolfed down their meals, Alex and Grace followed Sakura to a transport that would take them to the elevator. They all boarded a multi-car train; an upgrade to the subway systems of old Earth. It was fully loaded with people making their way to work at the shipyard. Being Maglev, it pulled away in near silence.

It was standing room only. Due to low gravity, places to set one's feet were specified in the floor panels. By placing shoes into these receptacles, passengers would stick in place and not have their lower half flying from under them as the train made its run. Sakura immediately pointed out the floor panels to Alex and Grace. The scientists complied soberly, placing their shoes in between the metal grooves in the floor. Alex studied the HoloPanels that darted the walls of the train; advertising, mostly: Fancy Hotels and space vacations/cruises. All were targeting people trying to get away from their dying planet. Alex just shook his head.

"Grace, I think I understand why the super conductor is so important now," said Alex. "It has the potential to reverse the damage we have done to our planet."

"But at what cost?" Grace looked skeptical. "What do you want to bet that we will damage that world to save ours? Come on, Alex. You know how we are. We'll just turn Pandora into another wasteland if history repeats itself."

"Right… You're right, Grace." Alex smiled at his elder. "As usual, you are the voice of reason."

The passengers enjoyed a spectacular view of the lunar surface once the train left the underground tunnels of Luna Station. After two hours and five stops, the train approached the end of the line on the far side of the moon: The _Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin Space Elevator Complex, No. 2: "Pegasus"._ Just before arriving at the elevator complex, the train had gone underground again. After everyone had stepped onto the train station platform, Sakura turned to the scientists and walked them to a quiet corner of the station. There, she provided them with plain, white electronic ID cards which would be needed to pass security and board the elevator.

"Gods, I hate these things," groaned Grace. "At least this one shouldn't be as bad as they are on Earth. I always feel like I'm going to throw up."

The elevators on the moon didn't have to fight 1g of gravity pull which was easier on the passengers. However, bags were still provided for those who still could not stomach the trip.

The trio followed the crowd to the security gate where each of them inserted their ID cards and submitted to a retinal scan before passing through. A few armed human security officers stood off to the side, looking for anyone trying to beat the system and get through unauthorized. Ever since the bombing attempt on Earth's "Zeus" Elevator, security had been very tight.

There were several lanes at the security checkpoint. Sakura went first and directed the two scientists to line up directly behind her. Once she scanned through, she waved over one of the security officers. He came immediately and leaned down to listen to the girl speak in his ear. Satisfied, he nodded his head and walked over to the scientists.

"Please scan your ID badges and come with us, doctors." The man was in a jet black uniform with the RDA insignia on his breast. The name "Benson" was stitched below his badge. "Welcome to Luna Station. We are happy to have you."

"Thanks," said Alex as he paused for his retinal scan. Passing, he walked through and stood by the large man, Sakura standing beside him.

Finally, Grace came through, pausing for her eye test. The first attempt failed and two warning beeps sounded. "Please try again." Startled, she took a breath and paused again for the scan; failed again. Her lane began to glow red and the second security officer made his way over.

"Benson, what is the issue here?" the other man asked. He turned to Grace. "Can I see your ID tag, please?" Grace passed it to the large man. Taking it, he plugged it into his handheld scanner. An image appeared, matching that of Grace. "Dr. Posner?"

"Ah…" Grace froze. Sakura immediately coughed loudly, gaining the attention of the guard. He looked over to see a stern young Asian woman glaring her eyes at him. Unfazed, he turned back to Grace, expectantly.

"Yes, that's me." said Grace with a smile. "Something is wrong with this retinal scanner. Please get it repaired. You're embarrassing me."

Officer Benson walked over and whispered in the man's ear. He turned to look at Grace and back to Benson again, an understanding look on his face. Satisfied, he returned his attention to Grace.

"We'll get this fixed, Doctor." He immediately waved the remaining people to a different line and shut the "defective" line down. He walked back to Grace. "Sorry for the inconvenience." He returned her ID card. "Carry on." Grace walked on through the scanner to join her companions while the man returned to his post.

"This way, please," invited Officer Benson. "You will be taking Elevator 5, "Odysseus". There is a Dr. Lovecraft at the top to greet you as you disembark." Alex and Grace stared at each other.

"Great…" responded Grace, less than enthusiastically.

They turned down a corridor to the left walked past another manned security checkpoint. A sign read RDA EXECUTIVES ONLY. The officer at the desk saluted Benson as he passed with his guests.

"I'm taking Sakura, Drs. Posner and Chopra to elevator 5." Alex looked over at Grace with a puzzled look, but Sakura bumped his arm with her elbow. He immediately 'got it'.

"Yes'sir. IDs please?" They all presented ID cards, which he scanned with a handheld device and immediately passed back to them. "Thank you. Enjoy your trip to the top."

"Thank you," said Alex and they all walked past.

At the end of the hall was a typical elevator door you might find in any hotel. The number 5 was engraved on the marble wall with "Odysseus" carved in cursive script below. The officer pressed the button and the doors opened to reveal an oversized lift. There was a bench along the three walls for those that needed to sit. The walls were made of a glass-like material and had several handles. They could see the rock of the Lunar caves just outside. A comforting hiss of air came from the self-contained life support system.

"Enjoy your ascent," said Benson as the trio stepped onboard. The doors closed behind them and a voice began to sound from the cars speakers. "Please be seated". Everyone walked to the back of the lift and took a seat on the bench. Grace cringed at the sight of optional seatbelts and safety bars. She gave Alex an annoyed look. He just smiled back at her as the lift slowly started to ascend and quickly picked up speed. The Lunar rock of the elevator shaft whet by at a blinding speed outside the glass walls.

"Welcome travelers. This is a state-of-the-art lift designed by our friends at the Resource Development Administration. You will ascend 65,000 kilometers to the Luna Shipyards at Earth-Moon Lagrange Point Number 2 in exactly 5 minutes and 5 seconds."

Alex whistled as the voice continued. "You will be accelerating for 3 minutes and slowly decelerate as we approach the top. Please remain seated and be sure to hold on to the safety bars throughout the trip." Just as the voice stopped, the lift shot out of the Lunar shaft and the surface was now visible below. Alex stood up and grabbed one of the handles to have a better look.

"This is my first time in a Space Elevator," called Alex excitedly. "This is fantastic!"

Grace did not agree. She looked miserable but was riding it out. "This is actually pushing more forces than the Earth elevators. The damned RDA sped the machine up!" She immediately secured her seatbelt.

Sakura was silent, but staring up at Alex. As the three minute mark passed, there was an obvious change from acceleration to deceleration. Everyone grabbed the handle bars and railings to avoid being slammed into the ceiling of the lift. Grace looked like she was going to lose her lunch. Alex looked like a kid on a ride, smiling widely. Sakura had a strange expression. Before anyone knew it, she jumped up and grabbed tightly around Alex's waist, her legs flipping from under her towards the ceiling. She was terrified and trembling. Alex could swear he heard sobbing as he struggled to hold on and stay upright.

"Oh, dear… It's okay, Sakura." Alex rubbed the girl on her back softly and looked over at Grace. She would be no help at all. The proud doctor had reached for one of the bags under the seat. Alex grimaced and turned back to the young woman.

"Dr. Foster, something' wrong!" the girl cried. "This' not normal!" She trembled as Alex put his arms around her, squeezing tightly. He grimaced from the girl's powerful embrace, but he now showed signs of concern as well. Something was clearly malfunctioning. A moment later, the lift came to a stop, tens of thousands of kilometers short of its destination. Everything went quiet as the passengers began to experience zero-gravity.

Grace was struggling to keep her composure, lifting the bag to her face noisily. Having righted herself, Sakura was trembling in Alex's arms, face buried in his shoulder. Keeping a cool head, the young man reached over the pressed the emergency button on the control panel. A moment later, a voice came over the speakers.

"Please stay calm. We are aware of your issues and are working to resolve them. Please stand by." It was pleasant sounding, but clearly an automated recording.

"OUR issues? Are you shitting me?" yelled Alex, pressing the button again repeatedly. The voice returned, repeating the same phrase.

Well enough to assert herself, Grace decided to step in. "See if there's a comm. panel," she asked Alex wearily.

"Right…" Despite Sakura's numbing embrace, Alex turned towards the control panel and thumbed the display. To his dismay, it was not functional. "Damnit!" Sakura started crying loudly. She squeezed Alex ever more tightly to the point where the man could barely breathe. "Sakura, please…" he pleaded affectionately, placing his hands on her shoulders.

"I' sorry…" and the girl loosened her grip, but did not let go of him. "We' thousands of kilometer' in space! I' afraid we die here!"

"No, don't be ridiculous," comforted Alex. "They know we are stuck here. We _will_ be contacted." He gave a look over to Grace who just stared back with a angry expression on her face. She wasn't helping his case. "Okay then. Any ideas?"

"It's another RDA screw up," called Grace. "Here, let me look at that panel." Unbuckling her seatbelt, she used the handholds to guide her weightless body over to the control panel. Alex motioned Sakura to take a seat on the bench and he followed, allowing her to continue using him as a security blanket.

"Okay, this thing must have comms of _some_ kind." She manipulated the panel only to get a disturbing message…

**LIFT UNDER MANUAL CONTROL: PANEL DISABLED**

"Oh, shit…" exclaimed Grace. "I hope that means they are trying to take control." Before anyone could comment, a voice came over the speakers. They all immediately recognized the voice of Dr. Lovecraft.

"You all hang on there," called the doctor. "I'll get you out in a jiffy. I just need a few minutes."

"Dr. Lovecraft," called Grace. "What is going on here? What are you up to?"

"Relax, Dr. Augustine, I know what I'm doing." After a moment the lift jerked upwards for a few feet and stopped, sending everyone flying to the ceiling. "Ah… I forgot to invert you for the breaking maneuver. Haha, you guys must have had some ride!"

"Doctor, what _exactly _are you doing?" called Alex. Just then, the lift came back to life and quickly began climbing the ribbon again. Everyone nearly fell to the floor. Grace cursed loudly. Alex looked up at the speakers. "Doctor!" Alex screamed. "What the hell is going on?"

"Damn this thing…" muttered Lovecraft before the speakers went silent. Grace was on the floor, lying on her back. She was grimacing in pain due to the extreme g-forces. Alex and Sakura grimaced and grabbed onto the support bars as the g-forces intensified. The young woman screamed from fear. The lift was approaching its destination at a rate that would create an impact that would do considerable damage, not to mention killing all its passengers. Alex began chanting to himself, making peace with his soul. Was this the end?

Two minutes later, the lift decreased speed and immediately flipped itself to reverse the effects of gravity. The intense maneuver made Grace pass out on the floor. Alex browned-out for a moment, but came to a moment after the stunt was over. Dr. Lovecraft's gravelly voice rang over the PA once again.

"Okay, I gotcha…" he coaxed. "Bringing you in steady'…" The lift smoothly decelerated and the forces became manageable again. Grace became conscience again, rubbing her forehead tenderly. She grimaced at the sound of the old man's voice coming through the speakers.

"Tell me we're almost docked," she said bitterly. "I've had about all I can take. When I find the idiot who last inspected this thing, I'm going to kick his butt! I'll only be returning the favor."

Alex looked down at her and smiled. "Yeah, this was incredibly rough." He looked up towards the speakers. "Dr. Lovecraft, please tell me you know what is going on."

"Ah, yes…" he coughed for a moment. At the same time, the lift jerked. Alex looked at Grace again, confused. "I could have done that a little better," Lovecraft continued. He coughed again and the lift bounced once more.

"Cordell, what the FUCK is going on!" screamed Grace. He didn't answer as the platform was approaching.

"Sorry, Doctor… No time to talk. I need to concentrate. Please take a seat until the lift comes to a complete stop." He chuckled for a moment. "Hehe… This reminds me of one of the summer jobs of my childhood. Running Roller-Coasters…"

Looking down through the transparent bottom of the lift, the platform was visibly approaching. The g-forces picked up again slightly as the lift slowed to a stop and the docking clamp engaged with a satisfying clunk. The three passengers stood up eagerly, waiting for the doors to open. Sakura kept Alex's arm secured around hers. She was silent, but clearly was ready to move on. Grace put her hands on her hips, impatiently. "Any day now, Doctor…" Finally, the doors slid open and the three stepped out hastily, using the hand-holds to balance themselves in the zero-gravity environment. No one was there to greet them.

"What the hell?" remarked Grace, looked around at the various personnel navigating the guide-poles arm-over-arm, expertly. Some rode in vehicles which were affixed to the floor and followed a path in the center of the wide passageway. No one paid any attention to the new arrivals. "Well, this is just great," remarked the older woman. "Does anyone know where we are going? This thing goes around for miles." Before anyone answered, one of the vehicles pulled up in from of them and a familiar voice emanated from it.

"All aboard for Luna Shipyard!" called Dr. Lovecraft. "Have a seat." Sakura put her hand over her mouth and gasped. Alex and Grace glanced at each other and slowly navigated their way to the bench of the vehicle and pulled down the safety bars. Sakura continued to wrap herself around Alex's arm. Once they were all securely seated, she rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. She was very tired. The vehicle sped off and joined the others in the center lane, picking up amazing speed. "Don't worry, I've had good practice with this! I'll have you to your destination in 15 minutes. Welcome to Lagrange 2 Station!"

"Doctor, where are you?" inquired Alex.

"I'm in the lab. Where else would I be?"

"How _exactly_ are you controlling this vehicle?"

"In due time, my boy. In due time…" The doctor sounded pleased with himself.

"You know… Why do I get the feeling we were lab rats for another one of his odd-ball experiments?" called Grace with a look of dread.

"I resent that tone, Doctor. This experiment was a carefully controlled success, thank you very much!"

"Hmph!" coughed Grace. "My ass, it was! You could have killed us! That was very unprofessional, Doctor!"

"Didn't the guard tell you I'd be taking care of you? I got you here safely, yes?"

"I guess…" Grace resigned.

"Not only that, you all just broke the speed record for ascension to L2! You will all be put in the record books. We beat the previous time by 1 minute, 15 seconds!"

Alex actually smiled for a moment. "You sly son of a bitch…" he said under his breath.

* * *

Approximately 14 minutes later, they turned off onto a siding and entered another large corridor. They passed under a large black and yellow sign:

**LUNA SHIPYARDS – GATE B**

The vehicle stopped at the security gate and an officer asked to see everyone's access cards. After scanning the cards at his terminal and glancing at each person, he returned the badges and raised the gate. An alarm sounded as a large metal door rose open. When there was enough clearance, the vehicle sped though the doorway and into a short tunnel. Shortly after, it emerged into what appeared to be a hanger. Spacecraft of various types were parked throughout the enormous facility. Maintenance crews were working steadily, assisted by sporty jetpacks that provided propulsion to swiftly get around in the zero-gravity environment. Grace and Alex took in the sites and were clearly impressed. Sakura sat solemnly while continuing to clutch onto Alex's arm, paying little mind to the surroundings.

The vehicle passed all the way across the open hanger and into another tunnel, traveling under another large door which sounded a similar alarm and began to close once they were clear. The vehicle whirred to a stop in front of a busy double set of clear doors.

"Please walk through the doors and enter Lab module 2A on your left," guided the crafty doctor. The doors slid open, invitingly. "I am waiting for you in Lab 41."

"_Fucking asshole…"_ mumbled Sakura to herself.

They disembarked the vehicle and made their way through the doorway, passing through a crowd of scientists walking through the doorway. Young men and woman were carrying all sorts of handheld electronic gear and hastily pushing their way through. It was truly mobbed.

On the other side of the door was a short, round walkway that was spinning slowly. This was a passageway to one of the spinning sections of the station.

"Finally," called Alex. "We'll get some gravity. This weightlessness is getting old." He glanced at the young people surrounding them. "Quite a young crowd," said Alex as they stepped through the door. Sakura finally let go of his arm and scratched the young man's back caressingly. She then walked forward into the room towards the central, circular doorway. One by one, they all entered a passage-tube in front of them, feet first, getting heavier as they descended the length. Once they reached the bottom, they had the equivalent of 1g, similar to Earth gravity.

"Ah, that's much better," said Grace. "Now, I think I may actually start recovering." She and Alex nodded. The sensation of appearing to walk uphill inside the rounded passageway was a bit disorientating at first, but Alex and Grace adapted quickly. Sakura was clearly quite used to the environment. The all followed the young woman down the long, hallway leading them to the lab, her steps taken with haste. She was clearly not happy.

* * *

The lab was a circular room with scientists moving busily from one terminal to another. 15 link beds were neatly arranged along the wall, forming the "spokes" of a giant wheel, with the management station in the middle of the room acting as the hub. A female voice boomed over the loudspeakers.

"Attention! Drivers coming out of link!"

Indeed, several link beds were in operation, attendants manipulating the HoloPanels next to each active unit. The scanner heads were spinning brightly with a visible repeating pattern as they went 'round their ring shaped enclosures. A moment later, the units slowly emerged from the scanner rings and the drivers began to emerge slowly. Dr. Lovecraft sat up in the bed opposite the door the newcomers had arrived. Sakura immediately stomped over, kimono sleeves flying behind her.

"You fucking asshole!" she screamed. The murmur in the room settled as everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look. For a moment, all that was heard was the sounds of electronic equipment.

The doctor smirked at her. "Come on, young lady. I'm not sure what you are yelling abo…" He never got to finish his sentence as Sakura punched him in the nose, sending him falling back into his link bed. The older man was stunned for a moment. A small trail of blood began to drip from his left nostril. He examined the fragile equipment he was just shoved into. "My, my… stupid little girl," he said soothingly. "Now, _who_ is going to _pay_ for this?" He held up a piece of the link bed's sensor array, broken from the result of Sakura's aggressive stance. Her face went soft as she realized what had happened. "What will we do?" asked the doctor, smiling as he wiped his nose with a tissue provided by his assistant.

"I…" The girl looked around nervously. Everyone was starring at her. Scanning the room, she saw the doors to the room open, RDA security personnel coming through. She looked back at Lovecraft, holding the broken sensor array. "No…" The man smirked at her and shook his head. She shifted her head back and forth, not sure what to do. She looked terrified.

"Is there a problem here?" asked a tough looking red-headed woman in a blue-black uniform. Seeing Lovecraft's wave, the officers walked over. Tazers adorned one side their body armor. An actual firearm graced the other side in a black, leather holster. Spit-polish shoes shined in a glossy black. This was not typical station security and training was evident in their sculpted, bare arms.

"This crazy woman attacked me!" cried Lovecraft. "And she willfully damaged RDA property."

"What?" Sakura pleaded. "No, it was' accident! I didn't mean to break!"

The female officer looked at Sakura questioningly. After accessing the situation, she shook her head meaningfully. She walked over to Sakura. "Ma'am… You need to come with us." She grabbed Sakura's arm and prepared to restrain her. The officer nearly lost her hand from the girl's reflexive response to protect herself.

"You bitch!" the office cried, caressing her hand at the wrist. Before anyone could respond, her partner had Tazered the girl. She helplessly fell to the floor, shaking as if in a seizure. All anyone could do was watch. Lovecraft appeared to be pleased.

"She always was a pain in my ass. Get her out of here, please." Lovecraft turned to Alex and Grace. "Okay, where were we?" Grace stood there, arms folded. Alex was trying to calm Sakura, but the officers pushed him away from her pulsating body, gyrating like a fish out of water. She slowly started to settle down as she passed out. The officers then shackled her and the male partner slung her over his shoulder like some dead animal. Alex looked on in horror as they left the room.

"Okay, what did I do now?" asked the doctor, meeting Grace's cold gaze. "Aren't you glad I finally got rid of her? She was a pain in everyone's ass. Damned director's lap dog…"

Alex winched at the comment. "You always were a mean son of a…"

"Hey!" snapped the doctor. "If you weren't a colleague I'd knock some sense in ya'!" He hopped down off the link bed and waved the two scientists to follow him. "We'll talk about the Asian bitch later. Follow me… we have work to do!" The duo followed the shorter man reluctantly.

"Doctor, the elevator…" asked Grace as they walked. "What was going on there?"

"Isn't it obvious?" perked up Lovecraft. "I was driving it! As well as the transport that brought you here. I was in direct control using 'the link'."

Alex looked surprised. "How is that… oh, wait…" The young scientist rubbed his chin. "You had mentioned the development of bio-mechanical brains. Both the elevator and the car had these devices implanted?"

"Indeed, my boy! They are coded to my DNA, so only I can drive them at the moment, but that was the final test of my Psonic link technology. I guess you could say the 'Dark Dreamer' has awakened, per say." The older doctor laughed as he lead them back outside to the vehicle that they had traveled in. "Have a seat. We need to get you two to the ship."

"Excuse me, but what about Sakura?" asked Alex. "You know she didn't mean to break your precious link bed."

"Awww, are you getting sweet on her?" The doctor nudged Alex in the arm. Grace almost laughed.

"Don't worry, I won't file any charges," answered Lovecraft, sitting down at the controls. "In fact, you will get to see a lot more of her!"

"What do you mean?" asked Grace.

"She's going with you!"

"Excuse me?" asked Grace, skeptically. "Going _where_, exactly?"

"As you so gracefully called it, _Pandora._"

* * *

Out the observation window, scientists stared in awe at the giant plume from the nozzles of some new, experiment spacecraft. It was so bright that even the UV protected panels of the room were not enough to protect the observers so they were all wearing dark, protective glasses. An instant later, the craft accelerated and shot off into space. Alex whistled.

"Whoa… What was that?" asked Alex, his mouth slightly hanging open.

"That, my friend, was the vessel that will take you to Pandora." Lovecraft was proud. "I only wish I were going with you."

Alex and Grace looked at each other, puzzled. "Why not, Doctor? Your Psionic Link technology isn't going to be used for the mission?"

"Yes, it is…" The doctor lowered his voice. "You see, I won't be around by the time you get there. You see…" He closed his eyes and bowed his head. "My body is frail. I wouldn't survive the trip. I've been given 3 months to live." They all stood silently for a moment.

"I'm sorry, doctor." Grace placed her hand on the smaller man's shoulder.

"Now, now... Don't be taking pity on an old man! We have much work to do!" He led them out of the room. "Let's be getting back to the hanger. There is a Valkyie class shuttle waiting to take us to the Magellan. We need to prepare our payload before the ISV returns from its maiden voyage."

"Where's it going?" asked Alex.

"To Pluto and back. The trip will take just under 12 hours."

Alex whistled. "Damn, that's fast…"

"12 hours _to us_. For the crew it will take only 8 hours. She's the fastest thing ever build by man," said the doctor proudly. "Come on. I'll introduce you to the man that designed her. He is probably in the shuttle, preparing for the trip."

After a quick adventure flying the corridors, they arrived back at the hangar. It was bustling with activity. The aforementioned Valkyrie shuttle was there, loading ramp open. Load lifters and their drivers were filling the cargo hold with large containers. MKII AMP suits were also being loaded.

"What are _those_ for?" asked Grace. "Tell me you aren't looking to start a war!"

"Relax, Dr. Augustine," waved off Lovecraft. "Unlike the load lifters, AMP suits have environmental control systems. Remember, we can't breathe the air on your Pandora." He turned and saluted the commanding officer of a squad of soldiers as the group of scientists floated past. Grabbing a handhold, Lovecraft stopped to address the man.

"Are your men ready, lieutenant?" asked the doctor, commandingly. Grace frowned and listened closely.

"Yes'sir," responded the slender man. The insignia of the United States Marine Corps graced his uniform. "12 men ready to go, sir!"

Lovecraft took a quick examination of the men before turning back to the commander. "Your men are sharp, lieutenant. They're polished. This is the 1st Recon I remember! I really do miss those days…" He floated over to the man at the end of the line. "What's your name, soldier?"

"Private First Class Miles Quaritch, sir!" snapped the young man.

"Looking sharp, son. Venezuela, right?"

"Yes, sir!"

The Doctor nodded appreciatively. "You are an example to the rest of the men. I think you will go somewhere, soldier. Carry on!"

"Yes'sir!" Quaritch saluted proudly. The doctor returned the salute and turned back to the scientists and they resumed their way to the shuttle.

Grace shook her head meaningfully. "What is this, doctor? You seem to know them."

The doctor laughed heartily. "You really don't know? Ma'am, I was 1st Recon myself, 25 years ago. The men all know who I am. You should look me up sometime."

Grace just shrugged. "So, I guess they are _all_ coming?"

"You got it. Don't fret, Doctor. They are for our protection."

"Yeah, sure…" said Grace. The doctor turned and eyed the taller woman.

"Now you listen to me," said the doctor in hushed tones. "This is not some school field trip we are going on, here. You all saw the hostile elements waiting for us. We need some serious firepower to protect the integrity of the mission. All these soldiers are on the payroll of the RDA."

"Unbelievable…" said Grace. "Here we are, on the verge of making first contact and you go in with guns blazing. Don't tell me you agree with that."

"No, of course not," he nodded. "I want peace like anyone else. But, if they don't want peace, we need to _make_ peace, understand?"

"Whatever…"

Arriving at the shuttle, the group ascended the ramp and floated through to the crew area. Using the handles, they made their way up to the cockpit where a tall man was standing in the navigation area, looking over multiple HoloScreens. When he noticed Dr. Lovecraft, he lit up immediately.

"Cordel! Welcome!" They hugged hard. "It has been a very long time. So nice to see you, old man!"

"Here, here…" Lovecraft presented his party. "May I introduce Drs. Alex Foster and Grace Augustine. My longtime colleagues on my Pscionic Link technology."

"Ah, yes! I'm Alger Witzhur, nice to meet you both." The man shook both their hands. "Cordel has said so much about you two!"

"Yes, I can imagine," said Grace, sarcastically.

"I'm sorry?" ask the tall, blond-haired man.

Grace decided to just let it go. "So, you developed the ship that is going to fire us out farther into space than any human has ever gone before… I'm impressed." She nodded with a smile.

"Oh, you are in for quite a ride, doctor! It is a shame they will be putting all the passengers into hibernation before the flight begins. The launch is quite impressive."

"Yes, we saw the launch from the observation lounge," said Alex. "It is fantastic to watch."

"Thank you, thank you," said the man with a bow. "Please, have a seat. I know this lack of gravity can be difficult on you. For starters, let's look over the manifest." They all sat around the table and strapped themselves in and began manipulating the panels. Grace was very upset with what she saw. The ISV was carrying mostly military hardware. She sighed. It would be a long mission.

* * *

Over the next several hours, the team planned their departure. Everything was executed in an incredible rush, due to a direct order from the RDA science director. Said orders were to launch as soon as they were ready. READ: Launch _as soon as_ _possible_. Witzhur had expressed outrage at the rushed schedule, but he complied and had accelerated his test battery on the new engines. Everything was testing beyond his expectations. The new engines would be able to achieve .65 light-speed. They would reach their destination in about six years.

The RDA had given the successful entrepreneur Witzhur access to a massive amount of superconductive material to fabricate the design. It was thought that the acquisition of the Pandoran mineral would more than make up for the expenditure. The RDA was taking a heavy gamble. It had effectively bet its future on the mission. Failure was not an option.

As expected, the maiden run of the ISV Magellan concluded about 12 hours after it had left. The test run was deemed a complete success. A good thing as Witzhur had already designed a second ship which was currently under construction. They were hoping to launch a few years after the Magellan was on its way, just in case. The RDA had backups for _everything_.

* * *

Which the shuttle all packed up and all personnel aboard, they left the hanger and made their way out to Lagrange Point 5, the launch point for their journey. It took only 30 minutes before the shuttle was docked safely at one of the Magellan's two docking ports. Another Valkyrie shuttle was already docked at port number one. 52 passengers and crew made their way through the connecting tunnel and onto the ship.

The ship was bustling with activity. Crew members were frantically guiding people to their stasis modules and helping people find their way around. Everyone was in a terrible rush. It took Alex and Grace a few minutes to traverse the long corridor from the shuttle dock to the cryo-sleep chambers.

Grace and Alex were assigned to modules 34 and 35, respectably. It was surprisingly warm inside the ship, although they were told by the crew that it would get considerably colder once they left the Solar System.

Upon examining his open module, Alex found a hand-written message on paper waiting for him attached to the wall.

"Wow… I haven't seen that in a while," he smirked as he took the paper off the wall and opened it. His eyes went wide when he realized it was from Max. "Oh my god, Max! You're here!" He was about to go and search for his friend when a message sounded over the loudspeakers.

"Cryo-sleep will be induced in 5 minutes. Please enter your stasis modules now. A crew member will be by shortly to secure you."

He felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Grace. Alex turned with a smile, showing her the letter.

"Check it out, Grace!" he exclaimed, handing the paper to her. "He's onboard and will be working with us! Isn't that awesome?"

Grace read the letter quickly and smiled, looking back up at Alex. "Nothing can keep you two apart," she said with a wink.

"Oh, stop that!" he said with a laugh, snatching the letter back from her. At that moment, a technician from the crew motioned the doctors to enter their modules.

"If you would, please," asked the young woman politely. "We need to get underway."

"Of course," answered Grace. "We were just about to climb in."

"Nighty-night, my sweet doctor," Alex ogled with a smirk as the technician strapped him in.

"Watch it, kid!" said Grace with a fake growl. She smiled, reached in and ruffled the young man's hair. "See you on the other side, Doctor."

With everyone secured in their tubes and in suspended animation for the long trip, the crew began the mighty spacecraft's departure. People in the observation platform of Luna Station got a sight that lit the heavens. The magnificent plume from the Magellan's powerful matter-antimatter drive units was a stunning event to behold, but several people were temporarily blinded and were sent to the medical center for treatment. The massive vessel shot off into space, gone from sight in a matter of minutes. Dr. Lovecraft looked out into space with a tear in his eye from behind dark glasses. He was not likely see the vessel return. He had given all his knowledge to the young Max Patel, who he hoped would carry out his legacy.

"_Good luck,"_ he said quietly to himself.

* * *

Back at RDA headquarters, strange signals from the crashed lander had started again putting the science department in an uproar.

"Sir, I'm telling you that I think something or _someone_ is there with the lander!" cried the technician to Director Smith. "It is as if they are randomly pushing buttons!"

The director looked at the screen with a huff. "I want you to monitor the situation carefully. If those natives have it, there will be hell to pay. Keep this _quiet_."

"Yes, sir." The comm. feed went dark as the director turned in his chair and puffed on his cigar.

"I hope you know what you are doing, Director."

"Time will tell, Mr. President. We will keep your administration advised."

"You do that."

With those words, a secondary comm. feed ended leaving only the blue and white seal of the President of the United States. A moment later, the screen went dark. The Director sat quietly in his chair, deep in thought. "_Yes, sir,_" he thought to himself. _"If I don't figure this out, we may witness the worst disaster in human history."_ He closed his eyes for a moment and meditated. Not thirty seconds into his peace was he interrupted by the beeping of the comm. Frustrated, he opened the channel.

"Yes?"

"Sir, you asked me to monitor the situation," stated the same technician from earlier. "Sir… we have a video feed. The unit is in the hands of the natives."

The director just leaned back and massaged the bridge of his nose. _"Goddamnit…"_ he said under his breath. "Tell no one! Is that understood?"

"Yes'sir!"

"I'm coming down there."

* * *

**POSTLUDE**: Contact!

Nawm slipped and fell from off the top of the device upon hearing strange sounds coming from its innards. Having landed in the shallow ocean, he shook the water from his long, braided hair and looked back at the derelict. Sensing danger, he drew his bow only to discover that his arrows were still on top of his "home" along with his other belongings. He gazed in terror as a door began to open slowly. The young hunter immediately ran for the island's center foliage and peeked safely from behind a large tree. A small vehicle of some kind hovered from the newly opened orifice and slowly began to float along the beach, as if it were looking for something. A moment later, it looped back and appeared to be examining the derelict it emerged from. The teenage Na'vi hunter looked on in terror as it ascended to the top and began to approach the object of his desires.

"No!" he cried, running back towards the roving device. "Stay away!"

The device turned, as if responding to the boy's screaming. Its "eyes" focused on him intensely. Nawm jumped over the rover and scrambled on top of his home, hissing loudly at the rover below him. "Stay away! He's mine!"

Suddenly, more strange sounds were heard. Nawm then realized they were coming from the rover. It sounded like it was trying to speak, but the words made no sense at all. Nawm cocked his head at the sounds, intrigued by the discovery. "Hello?" he anxiously inquired. The rover was silent for a moment, before blurting out yet another incomprehensible string of nonsense. Feeling a little more confident, the Na'vi hopped down and approached the machine slowly, arms extended invitingly. "What is your name?" he asked. "What clan did you come from?"

More nonsense words.

"You aren't very smart," said Nawm scratching behind his braid while walking around the hovering machine, examining it. "You don't even know how to speak Na'vi." He smiled and laughed. "I know! I'll teach you!"

And so began the most unusual "friendship" that Nawm had ever had. To his delight, _"Taw Swira" (sky creature)_ was a fast learner. Within a week, the machine was already able to repeat short phrases in the Na'vi common tongue. In turn, the machine taught him short phrases in English. As the weeks passed, they could converse on very simplistic terms. It was frustrating, but enough to keep Nawm company.

* * *

After three years of isolation, Nawm and Taw Swira had learned enough of each other's language to carry on fairly detailed conversations. Nawm learned that his companion had come from a place called Earth and that more of his friends were coming. He also learned that Taw and the derelict he was living on were called _machines_ and were not life forms. The young native found the idea very disturbing that someone who technically was _not alive_ was talking to him. When he was told that a person from Earth was speaking to him _through _Taw, he began to understand. He started to refer to Taw as _"Tsleng Swira" (false creature)_.

Several different people had conversed with him through the floating machine over their time together. Little did he know about the controversy that was brewing over his little language learning sessions.

"How long before friend' come?" asked Nawm in English. He was improving and was very happy with himself. "I'—Will I see them soon?"

"In about three of our years," responded the metallic voice. "Please stand by. Gloria will be taking over." A moment later, the machine began to speak again. It was the same, harsh metallic voice, but clearly someone else was doing the "talking".

"Hi, Nawm. My name is Gloria and I am seven years old. I am very excited to finally get to talk to you!" There was a strange repeated beeping sound. Nawn had learned that this was the machine's "laugh". "There are many people signed up for a chance to talk to you. You're a celebrity!"

"Ce-le-bri-ty," Nawm sounded out. "What is Ce–re-bri-ty?" He still had issues with some of the sounds.

More laughter. "You are so cute! It means that you are known to all the people of Earth. You look like a blue tiger! I wish I could meet you for real! I want to pet you! Do you bite?"

Nawm had gotten used to the endless array of school children that would converse with him. Since the machine voice never changed, he had asked that each person identify themselves before taking their turn. He would eagerly entertain their curious questions as best he could. There were still many words he did not know, but the human, as they were called, would always explain them to him. He was fascinated with the descriptions of the people of Earth. They looked very similar to the Na'vi, but didn't have what the humans called a "tail", nor a "queue". They had more fingers and toes. They also came in a varying array of skin colors, so he was told. Since the machine did not have a display, he could not see examples.

One day, he got an unusual call from someone referring to himself as "Dr. Max Patel." What was more intriguing was he stated he was one of the humans on the way there. He had perked up immediately and faced the machine's eyes, even bothering to groom himself a little. His hair had gotten very long, hanging down his back. He had been dutifully braiding the loose strands as best he could reach. Some of it was just a lost cause. He knew he needed a hair cut, but had always liked his hair very long.

"You're coming here?" Nawm smiled. "I'm so glad! I want to meet you all so badly!"

Max spoke meaningfully through the metallic voice. "Greetings, Nawm. We are very interested in meeting you, as well. I am a scientist. I have been asked to study you and your people."

Nawm was puzzled by the statement. "What do you mean, study me?"

"I need to learn as much about you as possible. We want to understand your people and culture. I am very impressed with your language. We have had the best linguists on Earth studying and learning it. The Na'vi are very fascinating to us!" Max continued to ramble before he realized that Nawm was looking a bit uncomfortable.

"I don't understand what you are saying. What do you want me to do?" Yellow eyes stared wearily into the machine's eyes.

"Please, do not worry," pleaded Max. "I don't want to harm you. I just want to learn from you. Now, I do need you to do one thing." A robotic arm extended from the rover and presented itself the young Na'vi. "Please take my hand. It is one of our gestures of peace and friendship."

Nawm had heard a little about this before, but had not had a chance to try it. "Okay," he said and stood up and offered his four-fingered hand. The machine's robotic hand wrapped around the Na'vi's hand and squeezed for a moment. There was a hissing sound and Nawm immediately pulled his hand away. He looked at his palm curiously. "What was that? It… how do you say… tickled!" There was a visible circle on his palm where the machine had pressed itself into his hand. A slightly reddish tint began to appear on the spot. It was blood. Nawm's eyes went wide. "What did you do to me?" he cried. He jumped up and ran into the forest. The rover quickly followed him.

"Nawm, please!" cried Max. "I didn't mean to harm you." The young Na'vi dove into the central lake.

"Stay away from me!" he cried.

"I'm sorry. Please let me explain." Nawm just splashed water at the machine.

"Go away!" the young Na'vi cried.

"Alright, I will leave you alone for a while." The rover left the central area and returned to the crashed lander.

Nawm furiously washed his hand in the lake, terrified by the thought of dying from the machine's touch. He didn't have any pain, but he was scared by the blood. Having cleaned his palm, he noticed that there was no damage to his hand. In fact, there was no evidence of the event at all. Curiously, he left the lake and returned to the lander. His long hair was plastered to his wet, cyan skin. He rung it out as best he could as he walked over.

"Dr. Patel?" called Nawm. "Are you still there?"

At the sound of Nawm's voice, Max returned to his console. When he caught the sight of the young Na'vi approaching, he got a full look at the exotic young man. His native attire was wet from his swim. His long hair was swinging behind him. Slick, cyan striped skin shown in the sunlight. He would be considered a beautiful specimen of _any_ species. "_Wow,_ _Alex would love you," _thought the scientist. A graph on his screen displayed 100%. Max verified the blood sample he just took was complete. He felt anger at having to use deception, but he was under strict orders. It would take the computers months to analyze it. He had just another three years to put his plan into action before they landed.

"I'm here, Nawm," called Max with haste. "Please accept my apology."

Nawm looked at his hand and then back at the machine. "You scared me, Max."

"I promise that I didn't harm you. Your hand should already be back to normal."

"My hand…" He looked back up. "What did you do?"

"I took a sample of your blood to study. I'm sorry it happened like that. I didn't know how to explain it to you."

Nawm shrugged. "Okay."

Max shook his head. "I won't do that again."

"It is okay," said Nawm. He placed his hands on either side of the rover. "Please, I'll do anything for you. Just promise me you will take me away from this place! I've been trapped here for _four_ of my years. I want to go home to my people!" He fell to his knees and started to cry.

Max massaged his newly forming beard looking at the young Na'vi cry. _"Fascinating,"_ he thought to himself.

* * *

Nawm eventually came to grips with himself and walked back to the lake to soak his head and think. The people of this other world were his lifeline. He had long ago stopped his mindless bonding with the derelict and was spending hours a day talking with the mysterious strangers on the other side of this machine. Now he had discovered that this man "Max" was on his way to him. He began counting the days for when what they called _"ISV Magellan"_ was due to arrive at what they referred to as Pandora, his home.

**End**_ of _**CHAPTER 4  
**

* * *

To be continued…


	6. Chapter 5: Landing on a New World

Greetings, everyone. I'm getting faster! Please enjoy this next installment. The big meetup is near! Please read and review. Enjoy! -YaoiBoy

* * *

"Avatar" is the property of James Cameron and Twentieth Century Fox.  
I take no credit or monetary compensation for the fictional world referenced in this work.

* * *

**PRELUDE**: New Friends

Nawm liked Max Patel. He was gentle and a good listener. He felt he could tell his new found friend anything. When the human started asking about his past life and how he got stranded on the island, the young Na'vi was more than happy to tell his life story.

"Nawm always know he 'different from _olo'aysmukan_…clan," the Na'vi explained. "They' make fun of Nawm. Call me weak and treat' like _tutee_. Eh… _fe-male_."

"Really?" Max was intrigued. "And why do you think they did that?" he asked through the rover's metallic, computerized voice. Max watched the image of the Na'vi male and carefully took notes regarding the boy's behavior.

The hunter's expressions changed and his tail started twitching back and forth. He looked away from the rover's camera.

"Oh… I'm sorry," said Max. "You don't have to answer that if it makes you uncomfortable. Do you want to talk about something else?"

After a moment, Nawm yelled back at the rover. "I want' make _tsaheylu _with _tutean!_" He turned back to the machine and seemed relieved. "There… it is said!"

Max truly didn't know what to say. He thought that maybe he misunderstood Nawm's declaration. The scientist had learned some of Nawm's language, but there were still many words he was not familiar with. "_Tsaheylu_ is 'the bond', right? Eh… when you connect the end of your braid?"

"Yes," answered Nawm. He looked rather embarrassed as he reached around for his queue and showed the end of it to the camera, extending the tendrils from it so Max could see. "We use 'queue' to bond with much life on my world. We see into _t__irea_ and share mind and body. We also… _mate_… this way." Nawm smiled for a moment and looked away. His tail started whipping back and forth again as he let out a short giggle.

Max typed notes furiously into the HoloPad next to him. "_Tirea_ is 'soul', or 'spirit', right?" Nawn nodded in agreement. Max hesitated before continuing. "Nawm, what is _tutean?_"

"Male," Nawm answered. "Male that mate with other male not common among my people."

"Ohhh…." said Max, finally in full understanding. "You mean… you… made_ tsaheylu_ with another male?"

"I try'." Nawm had calmed down and was back to his casual self again. "It not last very long, for _Eywa_ no' bless' joining." He looked away again. "We not know what we do. We' young, and stu-pid." He looked back into the camera. "My brothers _kill'_ him! My _ni'awve_ – my _first_." He looked down at the ground and drew circles in the sand. His eyes began to water. "They no mean to take' life. He try' defend' honor when they make fun of Nawm. They push each other. Both… fall from _Kelutrel…_ and meet _Eywa_." He closed his eyes and began to cry again.

"I'm sorry," said Max. He motioned the rover's mechanical arm to pat Nawm on the shoulder in an attempt to be endearing. Nawm reached out and hugged the machine, pulling it to towards him, sobbing loudly. _"Oh, dear…"_ thought Max. "Try to be strong, Nawm. You have friends now."

"I try' get away from them!" Nawm cried. "I try' fly to' stars! Start new life. But failed." He let go of the machine and sat up again.

"_Fly to the stars,"_ thought Max, puzzled. "Do you mean you were running away?"

"I fly with Txan, my _ikran_," said Nawm, proudly. "We fly high as possible. Try to reach' stars! But we fail. I end up here. I fear Txan is with Eywa." He walked away for a moment, looking up at the clear sky. "I wanted' get away from them. I' out-cast."

"You won't be an outcast anymore, Nawm," said Max as thoughtfully as he could. "You have new friends and, if you like, we can take you to see the stars."

Nawm's eyes went wide and ears shot straight up. "Really? You would do that?"

"Yes, Nawm. We want to help you."

Nawm hugged the machine once again, tears in his eyes once again. Only this time, they were tears of joy.

* * *

**CHAPTER 5**: Landing on a New World

During the first three years after the launch of the Magellan ISV, the RDA Science Director tried to work with the scientific community regarding access to Nawm. He had grudgingly allowed people to talk to him as a show of good faith. However, he forbade the exchange of scientific data regarding the alien and insisted that it all remained exclusive property of the RDA. Around the clock, RDA scientists analyzed the blood sample that Max had collected. Some had even started to try and produce a clone using a synthesized version of the Na'vi genetic structure, but were not successful. With the loss of Dr. Cordel Lovecraft, the world would be set back many years reproducing and trying to understand his work. Many geneticists strongly believed a clone could be made, but their attempts were frustrating at best, always ending in failure. Only one man fully understood the controversial scientist's work.

_He was on his way to Pandora._

* * *

Max worked in the lab during all his waking hours on board the Magellan. After a few months, there was a breakthrough: The computers on board Magellan were able to extract the Na'vi genetic code from the properties of Nawm's blood sample. As a result, the RDA was pressuring Max to come up with a way to apply Lovecraft's Psionic Link Technology in a way to make humans able to adapt to the environment on Pandora. Exo-packs would only take humans so far on this new world. Upon the RDA's direct order, the scientist had begun making cultures in an attempt to clone the Na'vi. Max was fairly certain he could get a working clone, but how would he be able to fully control it?

Then, he had an epiphany.

He thought about Lovecraft's experiments with monkeys and convicts. The process would brain-wipe them, insert stem cells from a selected human driver into the brainstem of the target body and lastly, implant Psionic receivers into the target's cerebral cortex. Using that method, they were able to transfer consciousness, but the drivers could not move the target body. Max had also thought about Dr. Lovecraft's great progress with the development of bio-mechanical brains to drive vehicles. Those cloned brains were implanted with stem cells very early in their development. What if he applied human stem cells to a Na'vi clone, at the same early stage of its development?

The early results were more successful than Max could have ever imagined. Having grown four successful Na'vi embryos, he applied stem cells from himself, Sakura, Dr. Augustine and Dr. Foster, following orders from RDA Science Director Smith.

Unfortunately, the embryo using Max's stem cells did not survive. The remaining embryos developed successfully, eventually starting to grow into Nawm's familiar form, with a few notable exceptions: these creatures had five fingers and toes instead of four and their faces looked more human. Clearly, some of said human traits were making their way to the forefront. Using RDA patented growth accelerators, the specimens would be fully matured in about six years.

* * *

Over the next two years before their arrival at Pandora, Max studied the hybrids' progress. After the first year of growth, he became concerned about the neural tendrils extending from the rears of their heads as they were almost completely exposed. Hair grew from follicles on the queue, but it just floated loosely, not forming the familiar braid. He decided to ask Nawm for help.

"Hi Max," greeted Nawm. "How is' see-cret project?"

"Greetings, Nawm." Max hesitated before he began his questions. He had hoped he was not treading on a sensitive topic. "Why do you braid your hair around your queue?"

"To protect." Nawm brought his queue in front of the camera and started to unweave part of the hair around it for about 10 centimeters. "_Sa'nok_ weave' early in life. Like this…" He slowly demonstrated how to braid the hair around the delicate neural connection. The tendril was covered in light-blue skin up until the end where the fibers would emerge. While not completely exposed, this skin provided little, if any protection at all. In a few minutes, he was completely braided up again. "See? Very important!"

"Yes, I see," said Max. "That makes sense. Thank you." The scientist frowned. "What happens if it gets damaged?"

"Very bad," answered Nawm. "I see brother break queue when very young. He go bad. He no longer himself. Go crazy. Elders send to Eywa."

"Oh, my," said Max in full understanding of the consequences of cutting away part of a Na'vi's brain. "Well, I will be sure to do it properly."

"You looking' have Na'vi child-ren, Max?" Nawm laughed.

"As a matter of fact…" Max paused, deciding not to reveal all of his plans to Nawm. He wasn't sure how the young hunter would react. "Sorry, Nawm. That is still a secret."

"O-kay," smiled Nawm. "But re-mem-ber this. I make' good ba-by-sit-ter," he sounded out.

Max laughed. "I'm sure you do, Nawm."

* * *

Two years later, humankind's fated moment was fast approaching. In three months, they would arrive at Pandora. The crew of the Magellan had already reversed the ship's orientation and started the deceleration cycle.

Back in the lab, Max's Na'vi-human hybrids where growing quickly. In just two years, they were almost as large as he was. Having underestimated their size, he moved them to larger amnio tanks. At this point, he estimated they would grow to be 2.5 to 3 meters tall. Initially, the scientist feared he had made a mistake. However, after looking over the properties of the Pandoran moon, he realized that everything would be larger than expected. _"Lower gravity, yes…"_ he thought.

Max dutifully braided the hair around their queues once a month. He still could not get over how much they resembled their human drivers. It would soon be time for the first link test. Since Max's hybrid did not survive, he would be forced to wake one of the other drivers early.

The crewman manipulated the panel outside the cryo-tube and it slowly began to slide open. Once inside, he disconnected the sensors and gave Max a "thumbs up". He then floated off to continue his duties. A minute later, a groggy-eyed young Indian man rubbed his eyes and looked up at the older doctor.

"Max…" said Alex, stretching his arms. "Is that you?" He yawned loudly. "Sorry, I'm really tired." Suddenly, he forced himself to sit up. "Oh…" He looked around nervously. "Where is the bathroom? I really gotta go!" Max smiled and helped him out of the tube, directing Alex to the nearest toilet.

Having relived himself and freshened up a bit, Alex looked at Max and gasped. "So, Max. Tell me, what's going on? Neither me, nor Dr. Augustine has been told anything. Wait… Is it me, or have you gotten older? Holy smokes! Nice beard, Max!"

Max laughed and placed a hand on Alex's shoulder. "Yes, Alex. 4 years have gone by since you were placed in cryo-sleep. I have been awake and working over the last four years which passed for you almost instantaneously. We will arrive at Pandora in 2 months and 28 days."

"Four years? I thought it took six..." Alex stopped himself and slapped his forehead. "Ah… time dilation. Wait… Is something wrong? Why did you wake me up so early?"

"No worries, Alex. Everything is going according to plan. Please, get into some comfortable clothes and follow me to the lab."

"Alrighty. I'm right behind you." Arriving at his locker, he picked up scrubs, put them on and followed Max towards the rear of the ship. "So tell me… What are _we_ doing here? Why were we kept in the dark?"

"Honestly, I think the director was trying to control any leaks," said Max grabbing a hand-hold and starting the climb down to the lab in one of the two spinning crew sections of the ship. Reaching the bottom of the climb, they enjoyed .75g to make working easier.

Grabbing lab coats from the hooks on the wall, the scientists walked over to the 3 large amnio tanks containing the hybrids. Max proudly turned back to Alex. "Okay, _this_ is why _you_ are here," said Max pointing to the tank to his left. "Take a look at my latest creation." Alex slowly walked over, looking at the cyan-striped creature inside. After a moment, his mouth fell open.

"Max!" cried the young man. "What's going on here? It looks like me!"

"Indeed it does!" exclaimed Max. "This specimen contains your very own DNA. Once it is matured, you will be able to _drive_ this body, in the same way Dr. Lovecraft was driving those machines."

The younger scientist's eyes lit up upon Max's nod and smile. "Holy shit, Max! That's awesome! Congratulations!"

Max was glowing. "Thanks! Now, this is just the half of it. It is time for a test and that is where you come in. Please, climb into link unit number 1. We need to see if the link works and, most importantly, if you can fully synch up and move the hybrid body."

"Alrighty, Max. I guess I'm ready to give it a shot." He opened the link capsule and climbed inside. Max walked over and leaned in.

"Remember, this is just a test. Don't be discouraged if it doesn't work the first time. Also, remember that you are still in an amnio tank. Please, do not panic when you notice your lungs are full of fluid. You will have an urge to try and cough it out. Don't, or you will suffocate. You actually breathe the fluid, just like a baby."

"Got it," said Max as he reclined into position and pulled down the sensor array.

Satisfied, Max closed the lid and started the link procedure. The scanner came to life and spun brightly, the link module slowly moving into position.

Max's brow began to sweat as the readout indicated a probable failure to synch. He frowned as the counter froze at 37%. He needed 100% for a successful link. After 30 seconds, the computer automatically aborted the startup sequence and shut the link unit down.

"Damnit!" cursed Max, making a fist and lightly pounding the edge of the terminal. He looked down at the link module. He needed to check on Alex. Opening the lid, his heart skipped a beat when he realized that the younger man was unconscious. "Alex?" The doctor immediately slapped the still body on his cheeks, trying to get him to wake. He was breathing, but would not respond. It would probably take time for the effects of the partial link to dissipate. Looking at the readings on Alex's brain functions, he was very much in a dream state, his brain showing the typical signs of being in the link, but clearly he wasn't. This greatly bothered the scientist as he contemplated the idea that Alex could be suffering, mentally. Taking a huge risk, he closed the lid again and started the procedure once more.

"Come on…" groaned Max. "Link up!" The display began to count up, once again freezing at 37%. Looking over his settings, he discovered a slight flux in the power input. Cursing, he frantically adjusted the power settings, trying to stabilize the input into the link unit. "Yes!" exclaimed Max as the count hit 38% and slowly started to rise again. "There you go, Alex. You can do it!"

After another five minutes, the counter finally reached 100%. Both brains were perfectly in synch. With a smile, Max turned to the amnio tank holding Alex's hybrid. Reaching into the tank using the acrylic glove ports, he lightly tapped the hybrid's cheek.

"Wake up Alex," called Max. "Are you there?" He tapped some more and was greeted with groggy, amber eyes. A moment later, there was a look of panic and the hybrid began to struggle, pounding at the thick walls of the chamber. "Alex! Please, relax! Shh….. Just calm down…. That's it." Max slid his hand along the hybrid's mane, soothingly. Sure enough, he began to calm himself.

Feeling that the danger was over, Max took Alex's large, blue hands into his gloved ones. "Try and squeeze my hands." Alex nodded slowly and lightly squeezed. "Excellent!" A little smile came to the hybrid's lips. "Can you wiggle your toes?" Slowly, but surely, the toes began to move. Max could barely contain his excitement. "Alex! This is going to work! I really feel it!" The hybrid nodded slowly and a little smile. "I'd like to keep you connected for a while. Are you okay? Are you comfortable?" Alex acknowledged his comfort level with a "thumbs up" signal. Max laughed and walked over to the console.

After about thirty minutes in the link, Max thought he was pushing things so he decided to pull Alex out. Walking over to the tank, he asked the hybrid to relax as much as possible. Obliging, Alex closed his eyes and tried to relax. Max started the shutdown sequence and slowly brought his friend out of the link. It would be another fifteen minutes before Alex finally woke and slowly rose from the link bed.

"Wow, how long was I out?" asked Alex.

"About fifteen minutes," answered Max. "How do you feel? The test started off with a failure, but you succeeded on the second try."

"It was strange, at first. For the first minute, or so, it was like a nightmare. I couldn't do anything, but I was aware of my surroundings." The man took a sip of water before continuing. "I could feel myself lying in the link bed, but could feel the fluid of the tank at the same time. It was very strange. I was worried for a bit before it finally fully kicked in and I lost all awareness of the link bed. I was then, completely in the tank."

"That's great, Alex." Max smiled and motioned him over to look at the results from the monitors. Alex nodded in agreement. It all went very well.

"So, when can we try this, for real?" Alex's eyes went wide. "I'm really psyched to try this out."

"These guys still have about another 3 years to fully mature. At this point we can really only do simulation studies, similar to what we just did. We'll need to do a lot more of that to work out kinks in the system. Personally, I am very excited."

"So, Max… which one is yours?" asked Alex. "I can't tell."

"Sorry, Alex. Mine did not survive."

Alex was still for a moment. "This means you won't be joining us outside?"

"I will be able to come out in limited capacity. We have retrofit the exo-packs for the Pandoran atmosphere. We still need to test them, but I don't foresee any issues."

"That's really a shame, Max."

"I may try again once the program gets settled." Max walked over to the other tanks, checking vitals. Alex followed him over.

"Hey! It's Grace!" called Alex. "Aww, she's so cute!" Turning to the remaining tank, he paused for a moment. Looking more closely at the female hybrid he finally recognized her. "Sakura? No, way! You mean she's on-board?"

Max just laughed. "Yes, _way_." He tapped his friend on the shoulder. "My friend, you may never be rid of her. But, never mind that now. I have something else just as exciting to show you. Come over to my desk. I have someone you should meet."

* * *

Alex didn't know what to say when he saw the first images of Nawm, sleeping on the beach. Max just smiled at the younger scientist's reaction.

"He's amazing, isn't he?" said Max. "It gets better. We have learned each others' language."

"Are you kidding?" Alex just shook his head. "Is this what you have been working on for the entire trip?"

"Native study and the hybrid project are my top priority." Max was ecstatic looking back at the screen. "They are called _The Na'vi_ and his name is _Nawm._ He has become quite the attraction to the people back home. He found our crashed lander and somehow activated the rover, which we have full control. He can't see us, but we can talk to him using the rover's speech synthesizer. He is really looking forward to meeting us in person."

Alex missed the last part of Max's statement as he was watching Nawm stand up and walk towards the rover. It was a perfectly clear day and the Pandoran sun lit up Nawm's angled features and brought out all of his best features. His chiseled, strong limbs and native attire took Alex by surprise.

"Is he wearing a loincloth?" cried Alex. "This is a live feed, right? Oh my lord…"

Max chuckled. "Yeah, I thought you would like him. He is also very nice to talk to. I think you two will get along just fine." He thumbed the image on the HoloScreen and control icons appeared. "Have a seat and talk to him. Just thumb the microphone icon when you are ready. You can move the rover with the directional arrows, if needed."

Alex fumbled as he sat down in the plastic chair in front of the desk. Max smiled, squeezed his colleague's shoulder and walked away, looking pleased with himself. A moment later, a heavily accented voice came through the speakers.

"Max? Are you there?" asked Nawm.

Alex just froze. Beautiful golden eyes stared back at him through the rover's camera. His shoulder-length, braided black hair was shimmering in the bright light of the midday.

"Max? Please say something. It is time." The Na'vi tapped the side of the machine as if to wake it.

"He wants you, Max!" called Alex, squeamishly. "Come back here!" The other scientist did not respond. Nawm stood up and slapped his hands to his knees looking disappointed. Not wanting to miss the chance, Alex nervously tapped the microphone icon. "Hello?"

Nawm turned back and sat back down in the sand with a flump. "Hello Max! Where' you been? You' late!"

"Hi... _N-Nawm_… My name is Dr. Alex Foster." Alex cursed his nervousness. "It is… a pleasure to meet someone… from another world."

"Hi… A-lex," sounded out the Na'vi. "Where go Doctor Patel?"

"He's busy, at the moment. He wanted _me_ to talk to you."

"I see…" He grabbed his tail and brushed the sand from the tuft on the end. "Well, A-lex. Max talk' much 'bout you." He leaned into the rover's camera, eyes wide. "What' _you_ look like?"

"Oh, it is hard to describe, Nawm." Alex was getting a bit hot under the collar from embarrassment. "I'm tall, have light brown hair. Pretty average, I guess."

"He's a hunk, Nawm!" yelled Max from around the corner, giggling.

"Why' machine make laugh noise? What is h-hunk?" asked Nawm, curiously.

Max ran over to the desk before Alex could answer. "This is Max. Nawm, it means you will find him _very _attractive, just like I told you before!" Alex stood up and thumbed the microphone, muting it.

"Max! What are you doing?" cried Alex. He waited for Max to calm down a bit before continuing. The older man would not stop giggling. "What is with you? Is this really the time for jokes?" Panicked, Alex looked back at the screen when Nawm responded.

"I look forward' meet you, A-lex. You rescue Nawm from island?" The Na'vi smiled back into the camera.

Alex's mouth fell open. "You have to be shitting me… Max, he can't be!"

"Alex, look at him," smiled Max, pointing back at the screen. Nawm was fixing his hair and began dancing for the camera, occasionally looking back, as if waiting for a response.

"Alex?" called Nawm. "You come for me? Take Nawm away from island?" More exotic dancing. "I do anything for you." He turned his back to the camera and swished his hips, tail flicking back and forth.

Alex was dumbfounded. "Max, are you telling me that our first contact with an alien intelligence is…" he pressed his lips together for a moment. "Whoa…" Alex was fixated with Nawm's display. "Max, he's _gorgeous_! Do you really think he is… you know?"

Max just chuckled. "Yes, he_ is_. We have talked long and hard about it and he _knows_ what he is. I'm just glad you now have someone to chase after other than _me!_" He reactivated the microphone. "Rest assured Nawm. Alex will come and rescue you."

Nawm smiled. "Come soon, se-xy man! I go bathe now." He placed two fingers on the lens of the camera for a moment and smiled. He then bounded off towards the forest.

Alex just looked back at Max and blinked, shaking his head. "Did he just hit on me? What have you been saying to him, Max?"

"I've told him all about _you_." Max chuckled. "Seriously, I see this as a fantastic opportunity." The older man walked over, put his hands on Alex's shoulders and turned the swivel chair to face him. "Now, don't take this the wrong way, but I need you to get to know Nawm _very_ well. There is much we can learn from him and his people. Please don't get too distracted by his advances. I need you to do what is necessary. Understand?"

"Yeah," Alex nodded slowly. "What's the plan, Max? Play along with him?"

"We are going to rescue Nawm from that island. He has agreed to come with us so we can study each other." Max sighed. "He's a runaway who has been stranded there for several years. I don't want him to be a zoo exhibit anymore. He deserves a real life. Also, I'm hoping he will take us to meet more of his people."

"So, you want me to be friends with him. Is that it?" asked Alex. "I'd be happy to. But, I'm guessing there's a catch?"

The older man stood up and straightened his lab coat. "No, I think that is pretty much it. I need you to talk to him as much as possible. Learn about his culture and language. Teach him all about us, as well."

"Alright, I can do that," smiled Alex.

"You have less than 3 months. Good luck." He tapped the younger man on the shoulder before making his way back to the link panel to look over the logs. Things were looking up for a change.

* * *

_Three months later…_

Finally, the massive vessel was approaching its destination; the second moon of the gas giant Polyphemus, recently renamed by RDA scientists for its giant Cyclops eye; a massive storm similar to Jupiter's Great Red Spot. The images sent back to Earth from Magellan were likely to change many things in the world of science. The ship would soon be in orbit around Pandora, which was now visible on the ship's monitors. Alex and Max watched the beautiful blue world from one of the monitors in the science lab. Crew members were busy again, preparing to wake the sleeping passengers. Announcements over the ship-wide comm. system were constant.

Alex had dutifully worked with Nawm on many aspects of life on Pandora. Not surprisingly, the two of them had also become very good friends. Max had continued working on the hybrids, or _avatars_, as he began to call them. They still were not fully matured and would not be ready for full use for another few years.

On July 4th 2137, humankind completed the first leg of its first interstellar journey. Once the ship was in its final orbit, the crew got to work waking everyone from cryo-sleep. Most would have to spend the next few days in rehab. Since they required no reconditioning, Max and Alex volunteered to be on the first shuttle down to the surface. Nawm was ecstatic that his friends had finally arrived. "I' be waiting!" he had said.

* * *

Cleared for departure, Shuttle V107A _(A.K.A. the "Marco")_ released its docking clamps and fired its maneuvering thrusters, getting clearance from the Magellan. For the first landing, only 6 passengers were aboard: Drs. Posner, Patel and Augustine along with three Marine escorts, their AMP suits stowed and ready to go in the cargo bay. All passengers were in the small cabin behind the cockpit. Max held up his newly re-engineered exo-pack and glanced at everyone else as the shuttle made its way into the atmosphere. Everyone but Alex had their mask on.

"Dr. Posner, please prepare your exo-pack," called out Max. "We will be down in 10 minutes." He double-checked the others and all appeared ready. "Okay, everyone! Since these packs have not been fully tested yet, I will be the first to go out. I will be wearing a full environment suite until the testing has been completed. No one is to go outside before I give clearance. Thanks for understanding."

"Everyone: Make sure you're buckled in down there," called the shuttle commander over the comm. "Rough air ahead." A moment latter, the aircraft bucked so hard, Max almost lost his balance.

"Roger that!" he called out, taking his seat. Max looked back at Alex who was snickering from behind his plastic mask. "Very funny…" said Max, folding his arms. Shortly after, he smiled. They would soon be standing on a new _world_.

The shuttle's landing site was provided to the crew by Max. It would place them close to the beacon from the crashed lander and ultimately, they would meet up with Nawm. Unsure if Nawm would be able to breathe their atmosphere, Max had prepared a container in the cargo bay that was air-tight should they need to place the Na'vi in native atmosphere. He would then build him a breathing apparatus, if needed. The scientist shook his head staring at the enclosure. _"It looks too much like a cage,"_ Max thought.

* * *

At 08:13 GMT (Earth time), the first humans set foot on a world other than their own. The first person to do so was Max, as he needed to test the newly reconfigured exo-pack design. Dawning a full environment suit, he walked out with a HoloPad and an exo-pack strapped to a simulation device, which was shaped similarly to a human head. He stepped into the airlock, exchanged atmosphere and opened the outer door.

The shuttle had landed in the only area large enough to support it: a volcanic island 14 kilometers south of their destination. The centrally located volcano appeared to be active, as large slathers of volcanic rock had formed a very stable area of land, flat and strong enough for the shuttle's girth. Upon walking onto the rocky beach, Max took in the magnificent sight; blue ocean water as far as the eye could see with a nearly cloudless sky. The only thing that told him he wasn't on Earth was the imposing view of their mother planet Polyphemus, dominating the sky. Looking back inland, the island contained a vast amount of vegetation in the form of a dense forest surrounding the central mountain. Max looked up at the towering volcano in the far distance. Just then, the ground shook lightly. _"We shouldn't stay here too long,"_ he thought.

"Lieutenant Ellis," called Max on the comm. "Please tell the shuttle commander to keep the engines hot. We might need to get out of here in a hurry."

"Understood," replied the female officer. "Private Quaritch and Corporal McDowell! Suit up and haul ass outside!"

"Yes sir!" the men replied and immediately scrambled for the cargo bay to climb in and fire up their AMP suits.

Satisfied with the view, Max finally got to business. He activated the HoloPad with a gloved hand and watched the screen as the gases flowed through the exo-pack's filter. The scientist had worked on the new design using data collected by the working lander and rover which were operating on the other side of the moon. His brow furrowed as he adjusted the filtration levels on the exo-pack's control pad to clean out more of the toxic gases. Max shook his head as the diagnostic display finally turned green, indicating the mixture was safe for human use. _"Damn,"_ he thought. Shutting off the HoloPad, he turned back towards the shuttle. Quaritch had just made it out in his AMP suit. McDowell was close behind. Max stepped aside as the men in metal stepped forward.

"Gentleman," called Lt. Ellis through the comm. "Please secure a perimeter. I don't want anything sneaking up on us. Meet back at the ship in one hour."

"Yes sir!" they both called in unison through the AMP suits' comms. McDowell pointed for Quaritch to head east into the forest, while he lumbered off to the west and along the shoreline.

Max, satisfied that the masks would work, smiled and headed back inside. Upon closing the inner hatch and climbing up to the small passenger area behind the cockpit, the scientist looked up to curious eyes on him.

"Well?" asked Grace. "Are we good?"

"The exo-packs work," answered Max, "but the atmosphere is so toxic, you will have to clean them much more often than we did back on Earth. I'd say once a day, if not more." He began to take off the environment suit. He placed the clunky orange helmet on the center table of the passenger area. "We'll eventually build exo-packs designed specifically for Pandora, but these will have to do, for now."

"Well, can we go see it now?" called Alex, already making his way to the exit at the rear of the cabin.

Max smiled. "Yes, yes. Come on, everyone. It is quite beautiful."

* * *

Pvt. Quaritch had walked for ten minutes before finally making it to the forest perimeter. Seeing the thick foliage, he pulled out his AMP suit's knife and started to clear a path. He groaned to himself upon hearing the various sounds of the many creatures around him. Being fairly confident in his abilities, he activated the motion tracking scanner and carried on, blazing a wide trail through the forest.

"Private, report," called McDowell on the comm.

"I just entered the forest, sir." He continued his walk and actively checked the scanner. There were multiple contacts in all directions. Ever confident, he dismissed the signals. "Nothing unusual to report, sir. Just a big forest to look through."

"Okay, report again in ten minutes. McDowell out." The comm. went quiet.

In reality, Quaritch was surrounded. He smiled when he finally faced the source of the signals: Wolf-like creatures with 6 legs. They snarled and yelped as his AMP trudged forward. Apparently he was approaching their den.

"Well, now. What do we have here?" Quaritch smiled and stopped in place and took a defensive stance. "What'cha waitin' for? I got something for ya! COME ON!" The mama wolf jumped at the metal machine, but right into its massive metal fist. The wolf yelped as it was thrown against a tree from Quaritch's punch. The wolf limped away, howling in pain.

"Is that it?" challenged the marine. He waved the knife invitingly. "I need a challenge. Let's see what you got!" Just then, three wolves jumped him from behind and made it to the top of his canopy, scratching fiercely trying to get to the driver inside. "That's more like it!"

He spun back and forth in an attempt to throw the attackers off. He successfully ejected two of the attackers, but four more came diving at him from the front. Quaritch masterfully wielded his knife, cutting one of the forward attacker's throats and the creature fell, immediately dead. The other three jumped back and snarled. Quaritch smiled. "Yeah! Come on!"

The wolf still on his canopy continued to scrape and eventually got one of its sets of claw stuck in a seam. The creature howled in pain and tried to free itself. Quaritch gyrated his arms in circles, trying to connect to knock the animal off, but was not successful. He tried spinning again and successfully threw the animal off, but the canopy flew off along with it. Forgetting he was not on Earth, the marine continued to breathe, not thinking about the poisonous atmosphere.

The man dutifully fought off every attacking wolf until they all finally retreated, crying loudly. At this point, Quaritch realized that he was coughing badly and was starting to get light-headed. "Mask!" he screamed and checked his cockpit for the emergency exo-pack he had with him, but could not find it. In a moment of clarity, he remembered the thrown canopy and ran the machine over to it. Reaching down and lifting up the damaged canopy, he saw his mask underneath. Throwing the broken windshield aside, he reached the machine's arm down to pick up the mask, but it was too clumsy to do so. Cursing, he stood the machine straight up and shut it down. Releasing his restraints, he climbed out of the cockpit and started to climb down. He froze when he heard a snarl.

"_Oh, shit…"_

The marine jumped from the machine just as the wolf lunged forward, landing square against the machine and knocking it over with a loud crash. Quaritch rolled over to the mask and quickly put it on, gasping for clean air as his attacker got back to its feet. The wolf snarled and approached the marine deliberately, taking slow, calculated steps as the man slowly backed away. Looking back to the AMP suit, it had fallen on its back. There would be no time to stand it back up. He was on his own.

Taking a calculated risk, he ran for the nearest tree and began to climb, hoping that the wolf could not follow. He equipped his knife and began to scale the large trunk. To his dismay, the pursuing wolf leapt forward to the trunk and quickly climbed up after him. He swung his knife, connecting with one of the animal's antennae, cutting it clean off. The wolf yelped in pain and fell to the ground, whimpering. Returning to its feet, it ran away deeper into the forest. A smile came to the marine's lips. _"I got you…"_

Yet another snarl from above…

The man immediately looked up, facing yet another wolf before him. Before he could react, he felt its razor sharp claw swipe him across his head, dislodging his mask. Quaritch was thrown from the tree as a result. Instinctively recalling his training, the man judged his fall and curled into a ball to perform a successful shoulder roll. The animal jumped down for the kill, but Quaritch was too fast. The soldier threw his knife with precision, scraping the animal's throat, spilling red blood. Yelping in pain, the wolf ran away. Quaritch stood up and refitted his mask, scanning the area for other adversaries. It was finally clear. Breathing heavily, noticed the sting of pain and blood dripping down from his forehead.

Collecting his knife, he made his way back to his fallen AMP and climbed inside, locating the med-kit. Using his field survival training, he expertly wrapped his wounds and stopped the bleeding. Strapping himself in, he re-started the AMP's ceramic engine and began the cumbersome process of standing the unit back up.

A minute later, having fully erected to a full standing position and completing a quick damage assessment, he equipped the 30mm cannon and thumped his way back towards the landing site. He immediately hit the comms.

"Corporal McDowell, Quaritch reporting in," he yelled into the comm. No response. "McDowell, do you copy? We have hostile activity! Repeat: We have hostile activity; east side. Over!"

Still no response. Rechecking his comms, all readouts were in the green. _"Perhaps he was not as fortunate as I was," _thought the marine. He groaned at his head wound. _"Pandora is no joke,"_ he thought to himself. _"Respect this world or it will kill you dead."_

"Shuttle Marco, this is Quaritch. Do you copy?"

"We read you, private," answered Lt. Ellis. "Do you have contact with Corporal McDowell?"

"No sir, he isn't answering the comm."

"We can't reach him either and suspect he is down. Investigate and provide assistance. Move like you mean it!"

"Roger that," he replied. "My AMP has obtained damage. Have lost containment due to hostile attack, but OK to proceed using emergency filtering. Please send MK2-Charlie for backup."

"Copy. MK2-Charlie will join you shortly. Ellis out."

The stocky young woman closed the comm. channel and made her way out the back of the cabin to the cargo hold. Before going out the door, she shouted towards the cockpit.

"Keep the engines hot, captain! We will be leaving the minute everyone is back on board!"

"Yes sir," the captain responded. "At this consumption rate, we have fuel for another 2 hours. After that, we must shutdown or return to the ISV."

"Roger that!" She went out the door and made her way down to the cargo bay. Climbing up into the cockpit of her AMP, she prepared for deployment. Her men were in trouble and she wasn't loosing anyone on her watch.

* * *

Reaching the western shore, Pvt. Quaritch grimaced as he approached the charred remains of Cpl. McDowell's AMP, the ocean waves crashing against the darkened metal. What really concerned him was that the Corporal did not die from the fire. A large arrow some 2 meters long protruded from his chest. "Well I'll be goddammed…" cursed Quaritch.

"Ellis, I need you, now!" he yelled into the comm. "Ellis? Do you copy?" There was no answer. "Damnit!"

The Pvt. smiled and scanned the area, but there was no trace of the attackers. _"Stealthy, aren't they?"_ he thought. "Show yourselves!" he shouted into the speaker as he prepared his weapon. "Come to Papa. Try and take a piece of me. I dare you!"

Suddenly, his motion tracker detected movement and multiple contacts appeared on the screen; too many to count. _"Respect this world,"_ he reminded himself. With a frown, he shouldered his weapon, extracted McDowell's body from the wreck and pounded back towards the shuttle. He wasn't going to try his luck twice in one day.

When the shuttle was in visual range, he immediately dropped Lt. McDowell's corpse. Drawing his weapon, he started to move inland towards the forest as quietly as possible. Surrounding the shuttle were the natives, some mounted on horseback. It was then that Quaritch understood the scale of their adversaries. They appeared to be almost 3 meters tall; giants compared to humans. They were dressed in simple tribal wear with red war paint adorned to their dark blue, black striped skin. Their weapons were drawn, pointing at the 3rd AMP suit. _"Lt. Ellis..."_

"Shuttle Marco, what is your situation? Over." Quaritch was greeted by the shuttle captain.

"Private Quaritch! We are under siege! I repeat, we are under siege! Natives are on board!" The comm. went quiet.

"Captain?" No response.

The Pvt. knew he had to think on his feet. Checking his motion tracker, he saw that the presence from the beach had followed him. He was completely surrounded.

"_Well, fuck me…" _He cocked his weapon, said a quick prayer and charged forward.

Charging as fast as the AMP would carry him, he opened fire on the group surrounding Ellis's AMP. Two natives were knocked off their feet and fell, dead. Pools of red blood began to glisten on the hot rock. Caught completely by surprise, the natives ducked for cover and scrambled. Ellis, seeing her chance, deployed her weapon and opened fire, shooting as many natives as she could as they fled towards the cover of the jungle. Quaritch lumbered up beside her and continued firing until the natives were in full retreat.

Inside the shuttle, two natives were exploring the ship. They had already made their way to the cockpit and killed both pilots, slitting their throats. Red blood covered the cockpit control panels.

Max and the others had hidden themselves inside a cargo container. He desperately tried to keep the others quiet as the natives walked around the ship, poking everything with their bows and spears. Just when the natives approached their hiding place, the unmistakable thumping sound of AMP suits was heard on the cargo ramp and gunfire erupted. After much screaming, all went quiet for a moment. Everyone practically jumped out of their skin at the loud bang that followed shortly after. Finally, they began to hear a familiar voice and opened the door to the container. The loud crash they had heard was the sound of Lt. Ellis' AMP toppling over.

"Ellis!" called Quaritch. "Lieutenant! Please answer me!" His calls were not answered.

Satisfied that the threat was over, Quaritch shut down his AMP, climbed down and ran over to attend to his commanding officer. He shook his head upon seeing the large knife embedded in her neck. It was a gory mess to behold. Her eyes were wide open with a look of shock in her unblinking gaze. Solemnly, the private reached down and shut the woman's eyes, saying a short prayer for her life. Max and crew had remained quiet until the private was finished with the ritual.

Finished, the man looked up at the scientists with hurt in his eyes. "Was it worth it?" he asked. "Lieutenant Ellis was like family to me. Do you have _any_ idea how meaningless this was?" He pounded the deck and extracted the knife from the woman's neck. "All those savages need a taste of this. I want them dead, dead, _dead!_" He clinched his fist as he fought back tears. _Marines do not cry_. He sucked it up and stood tall, knife in hand. He walked calmly over to the ladder that would take him up to the cockpit.

He was determined to get them out of this mess.

* * *

**POSTLUDE**: Postponed

Nawm's ears perked up when he heard the messaging signal from the rover. Someone was calling in. The Na'vi hunter had been waiting 3 years for this day: the people from Earth were coming and he would be prepared.

He had tidied up the area, replacing all the worn decorative wood carvings with new examples of his craftsmanship. The blade of his hunting knife had been worn down to a fraction of its former size and was now thinner than one of his fingers. Nonetheless, the crafty Na'vi hunter had created a new ensemble of Na'vi traditional décor to give to his human friends.

"Nawm, are you there? It's Alex," sounded the rover's tinny metallic voice. "Answer me, please!"

Nawm frowned at the strange tone of the voice and ran up to the machine, putting his hands on its "shoulders". "Alex… What is wrong?" He looked up and around, ears perked. "Are you close?"

"Nawm, listen. We are in trouble," said the voice. "We need your help."

"Trouble…" Nawm paused for a moment, thinking. All of a sudden his eyes went wide. "Trouble, as in _dan-ger?_" He stood up and paced around furiously. "No one hurt my Alex! Where you be? I' strong warrior. I' protect you!"

"Alex, please listen carefully. We were attacked by natives… eh… Na'vi."

Nawm pounded the sand around him. _"Oe tspang nìwotx kawng olo'!,"_ shouted the hunter. He jumped to his feet and ran over to the crash site.

"Nawm, I didn't catch that…" queried Alex. "Listen, we are safe from them now. Wait… what are you doing?" Alex maneuvered the rover over to the lander to see what the young Na'vi was up to.

Nawm had climbed on top of the lander and claimed his bow, quiver, hunting knife and food wrap. He then jumped down and looked back into the machine's eyes. "Where' Alex? I' save you and friends!"

"Nawm, wait…" The Na'vi had run around to the back of the rover, out of the camera's view.

Nawm placed his feet onto the rover's skids and climbed on. He hugged the "neck" of the machine to keep his balance. The rover dipped towards the ground for a moment, but easily recovered its altitude of about 1 meter above the ground a moment later. "Take' to Alex! Go!"

"Nawm…"

"I' help you! Take me to Alex! Nawm worry…" There was a minute of silence before the voice sounded again.

"Nawm, this is Max." The older man sighed for a moment. "We _believe_ the rover can bring you to us. But listen, Nawm. We are a great distance away from you. It may be hours before you get to us. Do you understand me?"

"Nawm no care!" cried the hunter. "Take me to Alex!" Nawm tapped the side of the machine a few times with his left foot. "Go!"

"Okay, Nawm…" said Max. "Please hold on tight. We are bringing the rover to our location."

"Nawm, this is Alex. Please be careful."

Nawm smiled. "I do anything for my Alex." He closed his eyes and hugged the machine tightly as it slowly made its way out over the ocean waves.

Little did the Na'vi realize the distance he would have to travel.

**END **_of_** CHAPTER 5  
**

* * *

To be continued…


	7. Chapter 6: Nawm to the Rescue?

Greetings, everyone! I'm so sorry for anyone who read the original release of chapter 5. It was full of stupid errors that have since been corrected. I promise to proofread my work more carefully from now on. This chapter is sure to get your blood pumping. Enjoy! Please read and review. – YaoiBoy

* * *

"Avatar" is the property of James Cameron and Twentieth Century Fox.  
I take no credit or monetary compensation for the fictional world referenced in this work.

* * *

**PRELUDE**: Rough Seas Ahead!

Nawm had been riding on the human machine for more than an hour before he began to understand what Max was trying to tell him. There was no land in site; just calm ocean. Starting to fear something was wrong, he tried to get someone's attention by tapping on the rover's camera. He did not get an answer.

"_What's going on?"_ thought Nawm. He opened his food wrap and ate some of the fruit he had packed for his "big day"; the day he would leave the island. He also had plenty of smoked fish. Being the only source of meat, Nawm had become quite the fisherman.

When the day ended and the light began to fade, Nawm truly began to worry.

"Hello? Please answer!" Nawm cried.

No reply. Max had said it was a long way. Perhaps they were sleeping.

Thinking good of that thought, the Na'vi hunter closed his eyes and tried to sleep. He tied his hands together with rope made from plant fibers so he could relax without falling from the machine. It took an hour, but he finally dozed off.

Nawm was flying; soaring through the air with _Txan_. The Wind was in his hair and he was happy. Someone sat behind him, arms around his waist. He wasn't sure who it was, but he smiled at the feeling of intimacy. Suddenly, something struck Txan's wing, going completely through it. Both the ikran and its rider cried in pain as they started to spiral out of control. They were falling... his riding companion was no longer holding on to him. He was gone.

"Noooo!"

Suddenly, Nawm snapped awake, his heart pounding and eyes red, blinking frantically. He was still riding the machine, clearly having just had a nightmare. It was morning as _Eywa's light_ rose in the east. A loud noise sounded off in the distance. Looking ahead, he saw a volcanic island with a familiar shape. He blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes.

"_Oh, no…"_ thought Nawm. _"It can't be!" _The shape was unmistakable; the giant mountain surrounded by a thick forest with four smaller mountains framing the larger one.

All Na'vi children were told of the "lost clan" of the sea which had been exiled many songs ago. He remembered singing about the black-striped clan that lived in the middle of the ocean on a volcanic isle with their legendary sailing ships. Everyone had always thought it was just a tale to scare the young ones and keep them in line. They were taught that the _Txon Pongu_ [Night People] would take you away in your sleep should you misbehave or not listen to your elders. Once matured to adulthood, most Na'vi discarded the stories as fantasy.

Yet, there it was in front of him; the mysterious island, exactly as described. The noise he had heard came from the island's central volcano. A large plume of black smoke was rising from it. At the same time, the wind picked up and the sea began to get agitated. Looking in the distance ahead of him, Nawm saw a wave approaching. It appeared to be growing in size as it approached. The rover casually continued forward, maintaining its 1 meter altitude from the ocean surface. The young Na'vi quickly realized that the machine was about to be submerged in the oncoming wave.

Fearing for his life, he untied his hands and dove under the water just as the wave hit. The machine was swept away, along with all of his supplies. He dove as deep as he could to try and escape the turbulent waters. Struggling and out of breath, he swam back to the surface. With a loud gasp of air, he emerged from the deep and fought to keep his head above the churning water. Searching for the human machine, it was nowhere to be found; likely destroyed by the massive wave. Looking back towards the island, the cloud of smoke was growing larger. The volcano was erupting. With another powerful blast, a bright fissure of molten rock was beginning to spew from the side of the mountain and began slithering its way down. The forest burned as the hot lava engulfed the trees.

Looking back at the surface, another wave was approaching. Nawm dove under the water again to avoid being carried further out to sea. When he came back up for air, he saw a tall, black form in the far distance, riding the surface of the waters. Nawm's eyes went wide as he could not believe what he was seeing.

The ship was clearly of Na'vi design. The symbol of a clan he did not recognize graced the mainsail. They had not seen him as the ship sailed off to the west.

"_Txon Pongu…"_

Nawm immediately concluded that, should he be discovered, there would be no escape. Ironically, he needed to be rescued from the waters. Convinced that his human friends were on the island, probably captured, the young hunter did what would be the bravest (or most idiotic) thing he had ever done in his life up to that point.

Kicking strongly to keep his head out of the water, the hunter waved his arms and yelled for help. A moment later, a horn sounded and the ship began to turn in his direction.

"_Nawm, I hope you know what you are doing…"_

* * *

**CHAPTER 6**: Nawm to the Rescue?

_Back at RDA headquarters…_

Due to the political fallout of the RDA's failure to keep the existence of the Na'vi a secret as well as spiraling out of control costs, Science Director Smith was forced to resign. The RDA board of directors had finally gotten the excuse they needed. Former Director Smith agreed to a modest job at the University of Southern California as the assistant head of the department of applied physics. His replacement promised to take a firm grip on the situation and focus on the primary goal of the Pandoran mission: bring back the superconductive material. Now dubbed "unobtainium" by most of the scientific community, their quest was considered a "wild goose chase" and a "waste of resources". There was much negative commentary in the news feeds about it. Parker Selfridge was a young, hot-shot, fresh-out-of-school college grad with a Harvard MBA to his credit. The RDA now $4 trillion over budget, he vowed to balance the books and get the company "back on track".

After formally taking his position, his first move was to cancel the building of Magellan's sister ship, the _ISV_ _Leonov_, despite the project being ahead of schedule and 75% completed. Witzhur was furious and demanded a face to face explanation.

"Alger, listen to me!" commanded Selfridge from behind the plain metal desk. All the lavish furnishings of the previous director had been removed. "I have to cut $4 trillion... _trillion_ from this year's budget. Your spaceship accounts for 2 of that trillion with another 3 to go. Do the math!"

"Come on now, really! Be rational about this."

"Oh, I'm being completely rational. This project has been nothing but one failure after another! I hear we just lost a Valkyrie class shuttle out there. A_ Valkyrie!_" He picked up a HoloPad from the desk and held it up. A _New York Times_ headline was clearly visible on the screen:

**CONGRESS CALLS FOR DE-FUNDING OF RDA – DIRECTOR SMITH RESIGNS**

He flipped through the various headlines from other publications:

**RDA MISSION TO PANDORA CRITICIZED BY SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY**

**RDA STOCK REDUCED TO JUNK STATUS AFTER SELL-OFF**

**UNOBTAINIUM UNOBTAINABLE PER GOVERNMENT SCIENTISTS  
**

**RDA LOOKS TO BUILD INTERGALACTIC PETTING ZOO  
**

The director slammed the HoloPad on the desk. "What do you expect me to do here? The board is breathing down my neck to get this under control. To many, we are a _laughing stock_ right now! As you can see, it is turning into outrage. We _cannot_ have that. You are lucky I don't pull the plug on your whole goddamned program right _now_. Consider yourself lucky."

The man didn't know what to say. He just dropped his hands to his sides and walked back to the door. Before walking through, he turned back to the director.

"If there is a major failure out there, our boys will be stranded." His eyebrows raised intuitively. "And you just canceled their only chance for a rescue. How do you think _that_ would read in the news feeds?"

Selfridge stood up and placed his hands flat on the desk. "Alger, those men... those _people_ out there are expendable at this point. They all _knew_ it could be a one way trip. You should know that." He sat back down in his plain office chair. "They've got one shot to get this right. I suggest you focus _your_ efforts on insuring that they succeed with what they have. There will be _no_ rescue. Is that clear?"

"Fuck you, Selfridge!" yelled the taller man. "You and your idiotic numbers..." He shook his head. "We should send _your_ weasel little ass out there next time! We'll see who's expendable!" He stomped out the door.

The director dropped his head for a moment and sighed. This was business. Some heads needed to roll. He sat up and opened a comm. channel.

"Yes, Miss. Davis... Please inform security that Mr. Witzhur's contract has been terminated, effective immediately. They are to escort him off the premises and revoke all access rights. Also, be sure to tell them he is not to return to his office for _anything_. His personal belongings will be delivered to his home address by the end of the week. Got it?"

"Yes sir, Mr. Selfridge," answered his secretary and closed the channel.

The man was only 25 years old, but he had earned the respect of the United States Congress by working with them to iron out a budget deal effectively ending all borrowing from foreign governments. The economy had stabilized and the country's GDP was growing again. Dubbed the world's "economic guru", he had been called in by various governments and corporations around the globe to give seminars on effective strategies to control costs. His best selling book series _"Saving the World, One Dollar at a Time"_ had sold 300 million subscriptions worldwide. He was considered the _expert_ on controlling costs.

* * *

Quaritch struggled as the natives forcibly threw him into a wooden cage and secured the door with a heavy rope. Gaining his footing and standing up, he discovered the rest of the landing party bound in the cage next to him. He groaned and kicked at the door, but it would not budge.

"_Filthy savages,"_ thought the marine as he tried to devise a plan of escape.

His attempt to correct the situation earlier had ended prematurely. The volcano blew its top just as he was trying to establish communications back to the ISV. The shock wave dislodged the sturdy granite platform the shuttle was perched on, sending the spacecraft toppling over the edge and into the sea some 20 meters below. All personnel survived the fall, but they had to scramble to get out of the shuttle before it sank. All hands were able to escape via the starboard airlock. Making their way back up to the beach, they had found the natives gathered, weapons drawn. Drenched and exhausted, the humans had surrendered and were immediately taken prisoner. Quaritch, being the obvious warrior, was separated from the scientists.

In Quaritch's search for an exit, he noticed one particular native which was dressed more ornately than the rest. The marine took a guess that this was the chief. _"Gotta take him out first,"_ he thought. Just at that moment, two of the chief's subordinates walked over to the marine's cage. There was much discussion between the two giant, blue-black humanoids before one of them opened Quaritch's cage and forcefully led the marine out to see their leader.

"Pesu nga?" asked the chieftain. He frowned at the lack of a response. "Peseng si nga za'u ta?"

Not understanding a word, Quaritich continued planning their escape. He was studying the surroundings, looking for an exit. Overhead, the volcano continued to erupt, with occasional explosions of fire and rock. The natives' village was constructed on one of the dormant mountainsides near a large cave, safely isolated from the destructive power of the volcano. Tall sailing ships graced the harbor below with many natives manning their decks. On one vessel they appeared to be unloading a catch of fish. _"That might be our way out of here,"_ thought the private. Next thing he knew, he felt a stinging pain to his back as he was hit from behind with a blunt object. They were loosing patience with his silence.

"Plltxe!" the alien chieftain yelled. After the soldier refused to answer once again, the subordinate struck the man again, on the back of the knees, sending the man down.

"Fuck you!" spit out the marine. His bound hands struggled to access the Swiss Army Knife stashed in the lining of his boot, but he could not reach it.

The chief walked over and took Quaritch's comparatively small neck in his hand and slowly began to squeeze, growling at the man and baring his teeth. Just as the marine was starting to loose consciousness, he was thrown to the ground. The chief walked over to him again, but Quaritch had struggled to his feet and began to run for the cove, slipping past the subordinates.

Quaritch's blood pumped hard as he heard the natives shouting and heavy footfalls thumped after him. The hunt was on. The plastic mask of his exo-pack had begun to fog up, making it difficult for him to see. There was laughter with much hooting and chanting from the natives as they quickly gained on him. He passed through the village, woman and children looking on curiously as the unusual, pale creature in strange clothing ran past them. Knowing better, the marine did not look back as he ran towards the harbor. Not having time to make a decision, he dove off the high cliff to the harbor some 40 meters below.

Everything felt as if it were in slow motion as the marine stretched himself as straight as possible and sliced, feet-first into the harbor. Feeling himself hit the bottom, he pushed off with his strong legs. His hands still bound, he could only kick to the surface. When he finally emerged, the sounds of the natives were heard from far above. His exo-pack had become dislodged, and was floating next to him. He looked up as the arrows began to fly. He dove back under the water and managed to kick off the boot holding his knife. Extracting the tool, he successfully cut his bonds and swam for the nearest ship. He emerged next to the wooden hull and re-secured his exo-pack mask, taking a big breath.

"_Now what?"_ thought Quaritch. He was safely hidden from view, for the moment. He examined the craft next to him. It was flat bottomed and simple; the fishing boat he had seen earlier. He made his way along the side till he got to one of the ropes securing the boat to the shore. Looking up, the coast appeared clear so he began to scale the thick rope, hand over hand. Making his way near the top, he heard a cry from up above. The natives had spotted him. He scrambled up the rope to take cover inside the craft on the hopes that no crew were currently aboard. As he reached the top of the rope, a large cyan hand with blue stripes grabbed his arm and pulled him up and into the boat. He was immediately covered with a heavy cloak before he got to see who the hand belonged to.

"Keep quiet!" Quaritch heard a voice whisper loudly in English. He was then shoved onto his back and something was placed on top of him. The marine couldn't see a thing, but the unmistakable sound of natives was heard stomping up the ramp and onto the boat.

"Peseng po kä?" someone requested, breathing heavily.

"Tsa'u fya," Quaritch heard answered. "Mì na'rìng!" A moment later he heard a unison chant and the sound of heavy footfalls clunked on the wooden deck and trailed off into the distance. After a minute, all that was heard was the sound of the sea crashing against the shore. He heard the barrier being removed and the cloak was opened enough for the marine to see. A large blue form stood before him, smiling.

"Alex! I save' you!" cried the native. He hugged the marine so hard it almost hurt the man.

"What? Get off me you Neanderthal!" cried Quaritch, shoving the Na'vi away from him. The native released his bear hug and Quaritch backed away, brushing his arms off. He looked the native over, determining that this one was different from the others. "You're clearly not from around here. Who the hell _are_ you?" "

The Na'vi looked embarrassed. "You' not Alex. Nawm, eh... _I'm_ s-sorry. My name is Nawm. You all take me away from here, remember?" The native offered his hand with a smile that was making the marine uncomfortable. He refused to accept the handshake.

"I have no idea who you are. How do you know English?" asked the man.

"My Alex teach!" exclaimed Nawm. "Where is he? Where is Alex?"

"_Your_ Alex is up there with the _other_ savages." The marine grimaced at the effeminate nature of the Na'vi hunter as he watched the hunter straighten his braided hair.

"Okay, we' leave now. _Txon pongu_ very dangerous. I buy time. Send warriors away. Come. They' be back soon. Stay in cloak. I hide you."

Seeing it as a strategic advantage, Quaritch wisely covered himself back up. The native then picked the man up and carried him over his shoulder. Scaling a tree, he placed the marine into a hollow.

"You' safe here. I will save the others!" The native scampered back down the tree and all was quiet. Quaritch decided he would try and get some rest before he made his next move: take that ship to the crashed lander and try and get a message to the ISV. The shuttle _Polo_ was probably already mounting a search and rescue mission. They would likely try and home in on the last known position of the _Marco_. That would no longer be helpful. He needed to get them a message.

* * *

The three scientists leaned into each other, discussing their dilemma.

"What do we do, Grace? There's no gettin' out of here," cried Alex. "Quaritch is probably dead by now. Stupid Jarhead..."

"Just try and get some rest. 1st Recon. Marines are pretty tough," she answered. "I wouldn't count him out just yet. As for us, we know a little of the language. We might be able to negotiate." The woman looked up at the Na'vi leader as he started to approach. "Here he comes. Try and talk to him. Just give it a shot."

"You can do it Alex," said Max with a friendly squeeze on the younger man's shoulder.

Alex nodded as the imposing Na'vi warrior called loudly.

"Who are you? Where did you come from?" called the chieftain. In the back of his mind, Alex was thanking Nawm for the language lessons.

"We from 'other place, far away," said Alex in Na'vi. "We' friends!"

"You invaded our lands!" the Na'vi called out. _"Nga nìwotx terkup!"_ The subordinates approached and started to open the cage.

Alex looked at Max in a panic. "I didn't get that last part." The older man shook his head.

"Whatever it was, it's not good," called Grace.

The humans were violently pulled out of the cage and presented to the chief. In a hasty show of respect, Alex kneeled and bowed his head to the ground. He encouraged Grace and Max to do the same. They immediately got on their knees, putting their faces towards the ground.

"Eywa bless you, _Olo'eyktan,_" said Alex as formally as he could. "We' visitors. Mean no disrespect. We no mean invade your bedroom. Just pass' through."

A few snickers rose from the surrounding clan members. The clan leader gave a hostile look to his clan mates and hissed.

"Silence!" All obeyed immediately. He pulled a knife from the sheath at his chest and grabbed Alex by the hair, lifting him up by it. The young man screamed in pain as the chief put the knife to his neck.

"Eywa has forsaken these lands!" he growled. _"Terkup!"_

"Wait!" called a voice running up in the distance. A tall Na'vi of a lighter shade of blue ran forward and put his hands out, pleading. He was immediately restrained by the subordinates.

"_Nawm…"_ said Alex softly, reaching an arm out towards him. He then went limp from exhaustion. Grace looked up and her eyes went wide. "Alex!" Max motioned her to get back down.

Upon hearing the name, Nawm immediately tensed up and looked at the man being held by the clan leader_. "Alex…" _he said softly_._ His eyes went wide. "Alex!"

He pushed the Na'vi warriors off of him and dove forward, tackling the chieftain to the ground. Alex fell free, released from the strong warrior's grip. It all happened in a moment, but Nawm now had the knife of the _Olo'eyktan _in hand, pointed to the chief's neck.

"Let them go or I'll send your precious leader to meet _Eywa!_" screamed Nawm at the gathered crowd of clansman. To show he meant it, he dug the blade shallowly into the Na'vi's neck, a light line of red blood following the stroke. The older Na'vi growled. "Let them _go!_" repeated Nawm, digging the blade a little deeper.

The chief's chest rose and fell quickly; his heartbeat almost audible. "You'll have to kill me first!" he said proudly. The clan members looked at each other frantically. Some of them started to plead.

Having the advantage, Nawm advanced his resolve. "Stand up!" the hunter ordered. The chief slowly made his way up, his back to Nawm. Once they were both fully standing, Nawm moved the knife from the chief's neck to his queue, holding the queue in one hand, knife in the other. The terrified clan members slowly backed away as Nawm led their _Olo'eyktan_ forward, back to the middle of the clearing where the confrontation started. "On your knees!" He kicked the back of the chief's kneecaps and the Na'vi leader fell to the kneeling position. "Max, take' knife!" The man scrambled up and took hold of the knife and the hair braid, keeping it poised near the warrior's head. "If he move', cut it off!" Max nodded in understanding, standing behind the giant alien, the Na'vi's smell pungent from perspiration.

Nawm immediately looked back down at Alex, who was lying on the ground, unmoving. "Alex!" the young Na'vi screamed and ran over to him. His mask had come loose and his breathing was very shallow. "My Alex! No…" He picked the man up and put him over his shoulder, walking over to Grace. "Can you help him?" cried the hunter, a tear beginning to form in his eye.

"Nawm, put him down so I can put his mask back on. Quickly, or he will die!" called Grace.

Nawm set the man back down and Grace fumbled with the mask till it was tightly back in place on Alex's face. The Na'vi smiled when he heard the man begin to cough softly. _"My Alex…"_ He knelt down and placed two fingers on the face of the plastic mask and slowly ran them from top to bottom. He smiled widely as a tear fell down his cheek. _"Oel ngati kameie." _he chanted softly.

Murmurs of confusion were rising from the clan around them. Some were slowly starting to advance, step by step.

"Nawm!" called Max. "Get us out of here! Take this knife and we will take care of Alex!" Nawm carefully put the man back over his shoulder and traded places with Max.

"I will take my Alex," called Nawm. "Stay behind me."

The hunter hissed at the encroaching clan members. "Get back!" he yelled. Nawm slowly led them down the hill to the harbor. Women screamed and took their young inside at the site of their leader being led at knife point.

"Get in!" pushed Alex once they reached the harbor, climbing into the fishing boat. To their surprise, Quaritch was already there; having made himself useful once he saw the situation was under control.

"The vessel is ready for departure. All moorings are clear," called the Marine.

"Excellent, soldier!" called Grace as she took the knife and gave it to Quaritch. "Nawm, put Alex down and tie the chief to the mast."

The Na'vi looked confused as he gave the knife to the Marine and placed Alex on the wooden deck, towards the back. "Where is mast?"

"The _tree_ in the middle of the ship!" screamed Quaritch. Max looked at the Marine with a frown.

"Ah!" said Nawm and bound the Na'vi leader as instructed. Once the leader was secured, he rose the mainsail. Quaritch took the rudder and they were off.

The village clan had gathered on the shore, very much in unrest. The warriors were chanting, the villagers crying as the boat left the shore and headed out to sea. Once the fishing vessel was out of view, the warriors scrambled to their ships and prepared for departure.

They were not about to abandon their leader without a fight.

* * *

"What is your name?" asked Max to the chief in his best Na'vi. The mighty warrior may have been tied to the mast as a prisoner, but he held his head high and refused to answer. Max continued. "What is the name of your clan?"

"_Txon pongu!"_ cried Nawm from the back. "Night People!"

The chief growled and immediately turned back to Nawm. _"Ayoeng olo' fkeu ik atxkxe!" _The humans jumped at the Na'vi's sudden outburst._  
_

Everyone looked at Nawm who had the still unconscious Alex in his arms, trying to comfort him.

"Clan of the Mighty Mountain," he said in English. He looked back at the leader who was fuming. _"Kea zoplo."_ He looked at the others. "I meant no offense."

"_Pongu za'u ne oe!"_ said the chief with a smile. _"Ayfo tspang nga nìwotx!"_ He broke into hideous laughter.

All eyes were on Nawm. "What is he saying?" asked Grace.

"I think I get it," said Quaritch. "Make eyes! Six-o'clock! Their comin' for some payback."

Everyone looked to the stern. Tall black ships were on the horizon and approaching fast. "No _shit!_" yelled Grace.

"_Oh, no…"_ thought Nawm. He hugged the sleeping Alex tightly.

"Dr. Patel!" called Quaritch. "Try to find out from the aboriginal if those goons have any projectile ordinance!"

Before Max could even ask, there was a booming sound echoing in the distance. A whistling sound was heard in the air, getting louder.

"INCOMING! GET DOWN!" screamed the marine.

* * *

Alex was in his bed; soft music playing from the HoloPad on the side table. Warm, strong arms were around him, cradling and caressing him. This was bliss. Suddenly, the music began to get louder. It was the ending of Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture, canons booming. Next thing he knew, he was in a swimming pool, practicing for his 1B lifeguard examination. He was trying to beat 400m in 8 minutes and working very hard to do so. He moved coolly through the water, arm over arm with a steady, controlled kick. In a rude awakening, he was yanked by the right foot and pulled backwards. Disturbed and confused, he fought off the prankster and kicked violently.

"Let me go! I almost had it you asshole!" the young man screamed as he struggled to get out of powerful arms that were holding him tightly.

"Alex! Please look at me!"

He slowly became aware of his surroundings; he was bobbing in a body of water and someone was holding him. He opened his eyes, slowly. Big, golden eyes looked back into his.

"Nawm?"

"Alex! You come back!" Nawm hugged the young man tightly and cried.

"Nawm… Where are we? What happened?" He put his arms around the Na'vi's neck and buried his face in the hunter's braids. "What's going on?"

"We under attack by Night Peop… eh... Mighty Mountain clan." Nawm explained. "They have many big ships. They throw big rock long distance. Smash our boat. We swim. They come. We in 'deep doo-doo'."

Alex tried to laugh and Nawm smiled for a moment. "At least you have a positive attitude."

Looking a far, the tall ship were nearly upon them. The captured clan leader had managed to free himself when the small vessel fell apart from the second of several blows, its mast snapped in two. He was nowhere to be found. The human handing party immediately jumped ship after the first projectile hit; the third of which proving to be the fatal blow, sending the boat down in a matter of minutes. All survived, but had nowhere to go, hanging on to the floating debris. The black ships would be there in minutes.

"Well, guys, it was fun…" said Max. "Maybe I'll see you in whatever afterlife you happen to believe in."

Just then, a horn sounded. Everyone watched as the lead vessel began to turn. A rope was lowered and sure enough, the liberated clan leader ascended quickly to the top. Once he was on the deck, he let out a warrior cry. The crew cheered happily.

To the landing party's surprise, all the ships turned back for the island, their objective completed.

"Wow…" said Max. "I think luck is on our side today."

"I'm not so sure about that, Doctor," stated Quaritch. "If I were a betting man, I'd put money on there being sharks in these waters."

Everyone immediately went silent. Nawm cocked his head in confusion. Running his hand through Alex's hair he asked, "What is' shark?" Alex was passed out again. Nawm smiled and continued to caress the man's mane of tangled brown locks..

"Hey Marine!" yelled Grace. "Of course there are sharks here! Look out behind you!"

Startled, the private scrambled to try and get on top of the piece of debris he was holding on to, falling face first as it toppled over. Everyone began to laugh at the jibe as there clearly was no attacking predator. Quaritch looked annoyed for a moment, but even he had a sense of humor and smiled.

"Good one, doc." He held his hand up. "You got me."

"When ro-ver take me 'cross ocean," called out Nawm. "I not see any sea monsters."

"Seriously, folks." said Max. "We need to make a decision here. Do we go back to the island?" Everyone looked back at the island, its volcano still erupting violently.

"Tell me you're joking," said Grace. "I'll take my chances out here."

"Okay, then. So, we make a run for Nawm's island?"

"We will never make it," said Nawm. "Machine take full day to get this far. Take us much longer with no machine. We no have food or fresh water. We die."

"Thanks a lot, Nawm for the cheery eval.," said Grace. "Any other ideas?"

"How about we take the shuttle back?" asked Quaritch.

Silence. Grace picked up a floating twig and threw it at him. A moment later, a very welcome roar was heard in the evening sky. To the west, the familiar outline of a Valkyrie shuttle was on the horizon. The landing party cheered.

Once they finished their celebrating, they pushed all the debris together and climbed on top as best they could. Nawm stayed in the water. Quaritch extracted his Swiss Army Knife which contained a laser. He shined it in the direction of the approaching shuttle, blinking out Morse code. The shuttle acknowledged and picked up speed.

A minute later, the shuttle was hovering above them, its cargo bay open. Marines lowered a line to the landing party, pulling them all out, one at a time via a safety harness. The soldiers all had a questioning look when Nawm was pulled out and he stood among the humans in his revealing native garb, easily twice the size of many of the humans.

"Hi boys," he said with his goofy grin and a wave. Max coughed loudly. Nawm looked over in confusion. The marines ignored him and went about their duties securing the cargo bay.

"Let's make our way to the passenger area," said Grace. "I want to thank these people for saving our collective _asses_."

Nawm walked over to Alex, who was placed in a stretcher as he was still weak. The hunter knelt down and stroked the young man's hair. "Have 'good sleep, my Alex." He leaned down and kissed the top of his head.

* * *

Once the cargo bay was secured, Max expressed concern for Nawm. He asked that they exchange atmosphere slowly, to see how the Na'vi would respond, physically. Max suspected Nawm would be able to breathe, although it may be difficult. From his study of the avatars, he suspected that a particular Na'vi organ next to the lungs was responsible for processing the elements of the atmosphere which were toxic to humans. What the Na'vi body did with it from there was anyone's guess. He made a note to do some atmosphere testing in the lab once they got back. Not one to take too many chances, he had the starboard airlock door standing by. The scientist gave the 'okay' and the cargo bay began hiss with the sounds of the air filtration system.

"Nawm, please come here," said Max. "Come down to my level so I can watch your face." Nawm walked over and sat down on the metal floor, cross-legged while Max watched his face closely, looking for the effects of suffocation. He also took the hunter's vital signs. When the room was half exchanged, Nawm started to show subtle signs of breathing issues, but he indicated that he was okay and to keep going. By the time they room was at 75% atmosphere, the Na'vi's color had visibly changed and Max started to give the order to open the airlock door, but the hunter stopped him.

"I'm okay," said Nawm. "It smells funny, but keep going." Max frowned, but allowed them to keep the filters running.

At 100% filtration, Nawm's skin color had taken a more yellowish hue, but he claimed that he could breathe normally. Max noticed that he was huffing a little harder than usual, but did not show any signs of disorientation.

"Okay," said Max. "But tell me immediately if you feel any discomfort, do you understand me?"

"Yes, boss."

Max smiled and tapped the Na'vi on the arm. "Why don't you go and check on Alex. We are all headed up to the passenger cabin. Please bring him up so he can be comfortable. He is suffering from exposure to your world's air, but he will be okay after a long rest."

"O-kay." The Na'vi smiled and made his way over to Alex as the medics were looking over him.

"Will Alex be o-kay?" he asked.

"Yes, Nawm," answered the female taking vitals. "He'll be fine. He just needs rest." Nawm reached over and caressed the man's face now that the exo-pack was removed. The medic smiled and left him alone, making her way to the stairs and up to the passenger cabin.

"My Alex…" He leaned over and kissed the man fully, chewing the lip a little. Leaning back up, he smiled. "Please wake up soon. I'm look forward to time with you. We about to fly to the stars." Alex moaned lightly as Nawm ran his slender hand along the man's side.

As gently as he could, the hunter picked up the human and cradles him in his arms. Walking over to the stairs to the passenger cabin and climbing to the top, he knocked on the door for assistance. Max answered and helped steady Alex as Nawn ducked through the doorway.

Grace laughed. "We need to start making these things a little larger," she commented with a smile.

Max and Grace took Alex to one of the bench seats and buckled him in. Nawm stayed by the door, hesitantly.

"Nawm, please join us," asked Grace with a wave. "I know the seats are small for you, but don't be a stranger."

Nawm cocked his head for a moment and shrugged his shoulders. Having to duck the whole way, he made his way up and sat on the bench seat next to Alex. Strapping him in was not an option. The Na'vi looked over at Alex and placed his arm around the young man. Max smiled understandingly as Nawm placed two fingers on Alex's forehead, murmuring something in Na'vi. The others took a confused look. Quaritch groaned and looked away.

"What's he doing?" Grace asked Max in a hushed whisper.

"Let's just say, I won't have to worry about Alex making the moves on _me_ anymore." Max smiled at Grace's wide-eyed look of comprehension. She smiled widely.

Nawm lay Alex's head on his shoulder as the shuttle took to the sky.

"Guess who's coming to dinner…" said Quaritch with a huff.

* * *

Nawm was quite surprised by the warm welcome he received upon entering the ISV, as the humans called it. It was quite cold in there so he immediately changed his native garments to what Max had called a _robe _and _slippers_. It was bright yellow and made especially for him. Despite the unusual appearance it gave him, he found the garments quite comfortable and they kept him warm. He was particularly fascinated with all the human things around him, many of which looked like the panel on his temporary "home" back on the island. When he started to touch one of the screens, he was immediately scolded by Max and told not to touch _anything_. The Na'vi's ears drooped in sadness, but he understood and kept his curiosity in check.

Max had given the Na'vi a guided tour of the parts of the ship which would be accessible to the over-sized humanoid. Moving around while weightless was a skill Nawm took a while to learn. He would misjudge a distance and float in the wrong direction, frantically reaching for any handhold he could find; many times that being a human being. His wildly out of control tail had stricken several people and equipment in its attempt to help balance the hunter as he floated through the corridors. After a few hours, he finally learned to control himself. Alex had been taken to a place called the _medlab_ where healers would tend to him. They had put him in a _sta-sis cham-ber_, as Max had called it.

"They are going to keep him in there for a few days to allow him to fully recover," Max said.

Quaritch was also confined to a cryo-tube, despite his objections. They said he also had taken in too much atmosphere and poisonous elements were still in his blood. Nawm didn't fully understand, but he nodded acceptingly.

They had sent the shuttle back down to the planet to collect the crashed lander and also bring Nawm's remaining personal belongings. They also collected foodstuffs from the forest for him to eat. He was told he could stay on the ISV for about a week before he had to be returned to the surface to gather more food. The humans were going to start building a _permanent base_ as Grace had described it.

Every few hours, the Na'vi would check on Alex. The technicians there had gotten used to his visits and enjoyed talking with him. A female tech had giggled when Nawm had first used the endearing term _my Alex_.

"You seem very close to him," she said.

"I hope to spend whole life with my Alex," Nawm answered. "Eywa bring us together."

"Eywa?" she asked. "Who is that?"

"Eywa maintains the balance of life," explained Nawm. "She takes care all living things on my world."

"She sounds beautiful."

"She is… She _is_." The Na'vi smiled. "I'm sure the All Mother is watching over my Alex. I await his return to me."

Nawm spent the rest of his time with Max, answering endless questions and enduring a battery of tests. The Na'vi had stopped cold when Max finally pulled back the curtain to reveal his secret project. The hunters ears went straight up and he grinned widely. He grabbed Max, picking him up and hugging tightly.

"Ahhh! I knew it!" the Na'vi cried. "You' been having Na'vi babies!"

"Yes, Nawm," said Max with a smile, catching his breath. "In a way, you are the father."

"Me? _Sempul?_" Nawm frowned as he looked over the avatars. "How is that possible?" He looked back at Max in total confusion.

"It's complicated Nawm," resigned Max. "I took part of you to make them."

"When I shake hand?"

"Yes! Exactly!" Max looked down. "I'm still sorry about that. I should have asked."

"I forgive," said Nawm with a smile. "I never thought I' have child."

Max laughed. "Well, I wouldn't take it literally. All you did was donate your genetic structure." The blank look in Nawm's eyes stopped the scientist's explanation. "Let's just say; 'you helped make this possible.'"

"Ah, O-K," nodded the hunter as he walked around the tank to get a closer look. He paused in front of Alex's avatar and gasped. "My Alex! But I just saw him in med-lab! How he get here? How he become Na'vi?"

Max smiled. "This is not Alex, Nawm. This is called an _avatar_," he explained. "We will use these bodies to walk your lands just as if we were one of the people. When not in use, they will sleep, like they are now."

"I do not understand," said Nawm, bowing his head. "I'm sorry, I'm so stupid."

The doctor reached up and hugged the hunter around the waist. "Aww... You are not stupid, Nawm. You are quite intelligent. In time, you will understand."

"O-K, Max." He smiled, leaned over and returned the hug. He looked back to the avatar. "Alex' A-va-tar' very_ se-xy_." The Na'vi's robe began to protrude a bit, revealingly. The hunter's breathing had picked up and he was blushing.

Max cleared his throat, smiling sheepishly as he released the Na'vi. "If you say so, Nawm." He stepped away before continuing. "You know, you never did tell us how you got on the Island of the Mighty Mountain."

"Yes… I much mistaken about _Fkeu ik_ Clan," conceded the hunter, his flush starting to recede. "They' not all evil. The fisherman were very nice to me. Rescue me from the water after big wave destroyed the ro-ver."

"I see," said the doctor.

"I forgive them," said Nawm. "They only try to protect their people. We' a stranger in their land."

"Yes," agreed Max. "That we were. I see your wisdom. Nawm, your English is improving!"

"Thank you. I practice with 'crew." He looked back at the avatar. "I plan to tell my clan the truth about the Mighty Mountain when we go back." He smiled at Max. "I take you to meet our Olo'eyktan, _Sänume._"

"Where is your clan, Nawm?" asked the scientist. "What are they called?"

"My clan is called the _Tipani_," said Nawm, proudly. "But, I know not where they are."

"We can help you find them once we establish a base of operations. Eh… our new home on your world."

Just then another man entered the room and put on a lab coat.

"Ah, Dr. Harper!" greeted Max, offering his hand. "Come and meet Nawm." He presented the Na'vi hunter to the stocky young man.

"Hello, Dr. Harper," greeted Nawm politely, offering his hand.

"You can call me René," said the doctor shaking the hunter's hand strongly. "Nice to meet you, Nawm. I've heard so much about you!" He examined Nawm's 4 digit hand in his palm and looked up at the hunter's angular face. "Facinating… There must be some mistake. I could swear I had read that you were male."

Nawm began to blush and gingerly took his hand away.

"Nawm _is_ male," said Max, his eyes going wide for a moment as he walked over to his desk.

"You don't say…" said the doctor, hand over his mouth. "I do so apologize. You are extremely, eh… _attractive_ for a male."

Nawm opened his robe, pointed to his manhood and smiled. "See, Nawm male!"

Max dropped his HoloPad. "Ah… _okay!_" Max ran over to the Na'vi and forcefully closed the hunter's robe. "The doctor is a very busy man and _you_ have more tests to run." He quickly tied the Na'vi's robe shut.

Nawm was about to speak, but Max cut him off. "Say goodbye, Nawm."

"Good bye!" waved the Na'vi. "Come back soon!" He looked down at Max, confused.

Doctor Harper just placed his hand over his mouth and stepped quickly out of the room. _"My goodness!"_ was heard as he climbed up the ladder to the rest of the ship.

"Great…" thought Max. He made a mental note to have the crew provision some Na'vi sized undergarments for their guest who appeared to have no sense of modesty.

"Nawm, please don't do that again."

"OK, Max. I forgot that humans are shy of their own body. Cover it all up. Body beautiful, but I will try and respect Max's wish."

The doctor smiled. "Thank you, Nawm." The doctor shivered for a moment, thinking about the sight he had just seen.

"_Alex won't be disappointed if things go that far,"_ he thought. Picking up his HoloPad, he walked over to the lab table. "Okay, pretty-boy. Let's get back to work."

* * *

**POSTLUDE**: Prejudice

In his 3 days aboard, Nawm quickly became a friend to all of the crew on the ISV Magellan. Almost everyone immediately fell in love with the charming, beautiful Na'vi hunter. He received many a love letter from the females, but they were all left unanswered. Of course, the medics all knew who had the Na'vi hunter's heart. Their suspicions were confirmed every time Nawm would come to visit his young scientist. They would soon be releasing the young man from his cryo-tube as all signs of contamination were finally gone from his blood stream.

Cpl. Quaritch had recently been released from his containment, having fully recovered. When he first saw Nawm in the medlab wearing his yellow robe and slippers he shook his head and frowned.

"What the fuck is this?" asked the soldier. "Of all the savages to bring along. This one's a pansy."

Nawm looked confused. "What mean you, Pri-vate?"

"That's Corporal to you!" snapped the man, having receiving a field promotion upon his return. The lost soldiers from the landing party would be honored during the next day cycle. He looked the Na'vi up and down and smiled with a huff. "You _dress_ like a _woman._ You _walk_ like a woman. Hell, you'd probably even _talk_ like a woman if you weren't bastardizing our language."

"I do not understand. I am no woman!" cried the Na'vi.

"You are _exactly_ right!" called out the marine. "You are a warrior, right? Man up, son! Quit acting like a little girl. Makes me think you're a queer, or something." One of the medics gasped and the room went quiet. Quaritch examined the faces of the medical technicians. He then looked back up at Nawm. The Na'vi looked like he was going to cry. _"Pathetic…"_ thought the Corporal.

"What is wrong with me?" cried the Na'vi. "Why man call me female? I male! I _male!_ I…" He darted from the room, barely covering his sobs.

"Get out of my medlab," called one of the doctors. "You ignorant asshole."

"Or _what?_"

The doctor looked between her colleagues. "I think the marine needs some more time in the cryo-tube. Say, another _week?_" She glared at the soldier. "Don't be a fool. I can make that happen."

"Okay, okay…" resigned the marine. "I'm goin'!"

* * *

Over the next 2 days, the Corporal made Nawm's life miserable. Quaritch made his hatred of anything Na'vi known to everyone on the ship. He constantly reminded people of the attacks against the landing party. He would describe the arrow heads brought back from the surface, analyzed and found to be deadly poisonous. He talked about the massive sailing ships with their deadly cannons. He swore that these creatures were not benign and should be treated as a potential threat to their primary mission.

Slowly, but surely, he started to convince his colleagues that the Na'vi were an adversary and not to be trusted. He saw Nawm as a threat to his resolve; people liked him, even _loved_ him. The passive hunter was clouding the Corporal's message that the natives were the _enemy_; they were _savages _that needed to be exterminated. One call on the superluminal cemented support for his position.

By direct order of the RDA Science Director Parker Selfridge, Nawm was ordered to be sent back to the surface immediately; Non-negotiable. All relations with the natives were to be ceased, immediately.

The marine smiled. _"I will avenge you, Lieutenant. Mark my words."_

**End **_of_** Chapter 6**

* * *

To be continued…


	8. Chapter 7: Enter the Avatars

Sorry for the angst of that last chapter. Hey! It wouldn't be YAOI without some good old angst! ;) Please enjoy and give me some feed back! I need to know how I am doing! Sorry about the length and any errors. I know these get a bit long. Warning: Some sexuality in this chapter. Enjoy! -YaoiBoy

* * *

"Avatar" is the property of James Cameron and Twentieth Century Fox.  
I take no credit or monetary compensation for the fictional world referenced in this work.

* * *

**PRELUDE**: The Lonely Goodbye

Nawm cried loudly when he got the news. He would be placed on the next shuttle down to the surface. Alex was still in the cryo-tube due to further complications from exposure to the Pandoran atmosphere. By direct order, Nawm was no longer allowed to visit him. The Na'vi hunter was mortified and pushed the young soldier against the wall who had delivered the news.

"Hey! I'm just the messenger!" he had cried. To his own credit, Nawm had calmed down and released the man.

Max came to the lab finding much of the gear from the work table on the floor, broken. At the sound of sobbing, the scientist turned to see Nawm, crouched and staring longingly at Alex's avatar. Dark streaks ran down the hunter's face. Max had placed a hand on the Na'vi's large forearm, promising him that Alex could still be his future. Nawm then placed two fingers on the glass of the amnio tank and silently said a prayer to Eywa.

"I _will_ see you again, my Alex. I promise!" he affirmed to himself as he floated his way through the narrow passageways to the ISV's docking bay, an armed escort following closely behind him. He had changed back into his native clothing, not allowed to take anything away from the human spacecraft that was not of Pandora.

Drs. Augustine and Harper, working from a drawing of the Tipani clan's markings, had been able to locate Nawm's village through aerial surveillance footage. Having mapped the entire surface of the moon, they found the giant, tree-bound village located in the south-western hemisphere, on a continent close to the equator. At long last, Nawm would be reunited with his brethren. The humans had dropped him off a few kilometers south of the colony, so as not to attract too much attention. Max had seen him off with a big hug, giving the hunter a bad filled with his favorite foodstuffs. "Be careful with that," the scientist had told him. Nawm was unsure about the warning, but somberly agreed.

After the shuttle noisily took off back to the heavens of the night sky, Nawm looked up into the sky and sighed. Hungry, he sat down and opened the bag Max had given him. Upon examining the contents, he immediately understood Max's warning. One of the human-made glass panels was inside. The hunter took it out carefully and placed it on his lap.

"_Max?"_ Nawm questioned to himself. He placed his oversized thumb and forefinger to the screen as Max had taught him. The device instantly illuminated, displaying many familiar pictures. Moving his thumb across the screen would move from one image to the next. He paused when he came upon one of Alex, Grace and Max, smiling together in front of a large window on the Magellan, _Pandora_ visible through it in the background. Smiling, he placed his fingers on Alex's face, making that section larger.

"_My love is up there."_

"_My home is down here."_

"_But I long to be with him…"_

"…_up there."_

The hunter turned the panel off and started walking… away from the village.

* * *

**CHAPTER 7**: Enter the Avatars

Over the next year, humankind made great strides establishing a permanent settlement on the moon's surface. The heads of the RDA Sciences team on Earth had decided that the best place for a settlement was in the northern hemisphere of the west, about 200 kilometers above the equator. Having only one shuttle slowed the process down greatly, but everyone was determined to complete the mission, despite the frustrating delays. The ISV could stay in orbit indefinitely as long as the shuttle remained operational to collect anti-hydrogen and deuterium from the atmosphere of nearby Polyphemus. Due to the cancellation of the _Leonov _ISV project, the Magellan would have to stay in orbit long enough for the base of operations to be built and for the first load of unobtainium ore to be delivered. Those goals accomplished, the ISV would refuel and immediately return for Earth.

Due to the extreme dangers of the native wildlife, the first structure to go up was a 7 meter high perimeter fence. They started with a 2.5 square kilometer clearing which they located on the large continent they had dubbed "New Eden". It was very hot and natives were nearby, but the land was clear and flat which presented an ideal place to start. 30 Marines were set to the task of erecting the fence. Several AMP suits were sent down to establish a perimeter and fight off the ever aggressive Pandoran predators. Two men were lost within minutes of the first landing to flying beasts. More would have been taken had it not been for Cpl. Quaritch's skill at the controls of his AMP. The marine was assigned the duty of leading the AMP team securing the area which had been immediately named "Hell's Gate" by his fellow soldiers. They considered Pandora to be a "hell hole" and the name stuck quickly.

After a few hours, the octagonal fence was completed. Several AMPs stayed positioned at the corners to ward off or shut down any airborne threats. The soldiers then got busy constructing a solid landing platform for the shuttle. Concrete made from the Pandoran earth and waterways was poured into several foundations for the first complex of buildings: A command center with an adorning air-traffic control/observation tower, living quarters, a hanger, and a factory/refinery. All initial buildings would have to be constructed from the material at hand; muddy earth forged into strong brick.

* * *

Until the living quarters were completed, all personnel had to live in portable, inflatable habitats brought down from the ISV. They were air-tight and even provided filtration of the atmosphere thanks to Max's adaptations of the systems.

Fully recovered, Alex was assigned the task of formulating a plan to extract the massive cache of unobtainium detected underground just one kilometer to the south. Passing a crash course in the operation of an AMP suit, he and two marines made their way to what would become the first mine. The scientist kept a picture of Nawm with him in the breast pocket of his environment suit. Large pockets of unobtainium would likely be dangerous to humans if they were directly exposed to it so Alex had ordered the team to wear the suits as a precaution. He said a short prayer for Nawm's safety before he activated the suit and thumped southward, his escorts flanking him.

Grace was put in charge of cultivating the native soil to try and grow food that humans could eat. Initial testing had shown the native flora and fauna to be very poisonous and not suitable for human consumption. She would continue to study the native plants for anything that could be useful for human survival. Since her passion was botany, she was very enthusiastic about her work and wasted no time in setting up a lab. Refusing to drive an AMP, she dawned a partial environment suit with exo-pack and examined the forest close to the perimeter fence, marines at her side for protection.

Max was told to step up his Avatar project. The Na'vi bodies would increase the construction efforts exponentially. Three link modules and scanners were sent down from the ISV and set up in a makeshift control center. It was very temporary, being in an inflatable structure, but all the basic amenities for human survival were present. One could even take a short shower. Power was provided via solar and fusion generators. Once the station was ready, the three occupied amnio tanks were sent down, the human-Na'vi hybrid avatars almost ready for use. In just another few months, they would be taken out for their first real test.

Just recently taken out of cryo-sleep, the young Asian woman Sakura begrudgingly accepted the task as administrator of the base's day-to-day operations. Being the only person with any political ties back to the RDA on Earth, she was placed in change of the entire operation. Using her no nonsense style, she whipped all operations into order. Projects moved forward at a blistering pace. As a result, she was not very popular with the settlers and considered a tyrant. No one dared confront her, however. Little Miss "dragon fist" commonly sent people to the colony's medlab for treatment.

* * *

A few months later, the base had started to take shape. The initial, permanent buildings were in place and almost all personnel were moved inside to the new living quarters. The remaining two dozen staff were flown back up to the ISV along with their first load of precious unobtainium cargo. The RDA officials back home were ecstatic with the colony's progress. A partial crew of 40 would be left behind to maintain the base until the ISV returned.

With personnel resources now stretched thin, Max was burning the "midnight hydrogen" getting the avatars ready. He would be ready for his first full test the next morning and he cursed himself for not getting proper rest. He was a man only 30 years of age, but he was wise enough to know when he was pushing himself too hard. "Dad worked himself to death…" he thought. He shut down his computer terminal and called it a night. Leaving the admin complex, he equipped his exo-pack and made his way outside and over to the living quarters. It was dark out and the air was cool. The blue light from Polyphemus gave everything a matching hue; the bioluminescent Pandoran plant life giving off yet another spectral array of colors. Shades of violet assaulted his landscape.

"I'll never get tired of this," he thought as he admired the kaleidoscope of visible light around the base. "It's breathtaking." Looking back behind the admin building, he saw the beginnings of the new factory and refinery which were only partially operational. Plumes of dark smoke rose from the site. "Not again," he cried. He swore then and there to do whatever he could to help preserve Pandora's environment. He cursed himself for having not cloned another avatar for himself. There would not be time for that now. In the distance, he heard the cry of wild banshees. Not waiting for the sounds to get closer, he picked up his pace. No one had been assaulted by the predators since the new, automatic gun turrets had been installed on the perimeter fence. However, old habits die hard.

Entering his quarters, he sat at his plain metal desk and activated his HoloPad for a moment to compose a quick message to Alex. He wanted to be on the record about the pollution generated by the refinery. Satisfying that, the man lay in his bunk and tried to sleep. How could he? The real test of all his hard work was only hours away. If it didn't work, years of research would have been in vain. Whispering a lullaby passed down by his mother, he eventually drifted off, the words of the native tongue soothing to his soul.

* * *

The next morning, a groggy-eyed, bearded scientist made his way to the administration building and up to the sciences lab. There, the attractive Dr. Alex Foster was waiting for him with a cheery smile, wearing his white lab coat.

"So, today is the big day, huh?" said the brunette enthusiastically. "So, we finally get to take these new bodies out for a spin?"

Max could not help but smile. "Yes, Alex. I have everything in order. We are good to go. Come on. Let's complete the checklist and power up."

The lab was in a similar configuration to what Dr. Lovecraft had set up in the lunar station; hub and spoke. The room was round with the command center in the middle and the link units forming the "spokes" of the "wheel" of link bed scanners. It was much larger than the lunar facility; all the link units installed and ready for use.

"Right now, we only have 3 avatars," explained Max to the small group of scientists and engineers. "But, as you can see, we have 12 units here. Today's test will determine how the rest of these beds get filled. We might end up with a bunch of vehicle drivers if this ends up in failure." Max grimaced. "No pressure…" nervous laughter filled the room. "Okay, let's do it!" The group left immediately manned their stations. The brunette stayed with Max.

"Right…" answered Alex, not completely paying attention. He walked around the room, examining the equipment, whistling in admiration. "Damn, the RDA is sparing no expense. Is that one of the new computer cores you were telling me about?" He was pointing to a rack of computer hardware on the wall opposite of the entrance.

"Indeed!" exclaimed Max, walking over. "One-hundred and twenty-eight 10THz CPUs in a parallel configuration. Quad quantum matrix I/O buses with limitless, hot-expandable holographic memory storage. It is screaming fast, but cost a mint. There are only a few of these supercomputers in existence right now. The other one is up in orbit on the ISV." The older man laughed for a moment and smiled. "We'll need much of this computing power to initiate and monitor all these psionic links. It will eventually act as the computer core for the entire base." Max was truly geeking out.

"Really, now…" said Alex. "Can it play Space Invaders?"

Max just shook his head and smiled. "Just come over here, you idiot." He powered up link unit number one. "The team is getting your avatar de-cantered as we speak." He pointed to the large window behind the unit, running halfway around the circular room. Looking down below, Alex saw his avatar lying on a gurney like one of Dr. Lovecraft's monkeys. Beside his was Grace's Na'vi body, followed by Sakura's.

"_Damn…" _thought Alex looking at the strikingly beautiful alien bodies. "So Grace and Sakura are testing the avatars as well?" asked Alex.

"They will be in for their first linking this afternoon. They insisted you go first," replied Max, finished at the console. "They will go under the link once you successfully connect with your avatar and have been using it for a while. You are the guinea pig, Alex." They laughed for a moment. The older man sensed concern in the younger man's eyes. "Relax, young man. I will monitor every step of your progress."

"Everything is ready to go, right?" exclaimed Alex. "I mean… What are they afraid of? I'm not about to get lobotomized, am I?"

"Alex," pleaded the older man. "I have double and triple checked _everything_. However, there is still some risk. I want to make sure you understand that." He looked the man into his eyes. "The moment I sense any trouble, I'll pull you out. I won't let anything happen to you, okay?"

"Yes, Max. Geez…" cried the younger man. "Okay, I'm ready. Let's go!" He walked over to the link unit, placed his lab coat on the chair beside it and opened the capsule.

"Okay, Alex," called Max. "I'll get this started." He thumbed a control on the wall and spoke loudly. "Dr. Harper, are you ready in there?"

"Indeed, doctor," said the burly man from behind an exo-pack. "Let's get these birds out of the nest!"

"Right." Max walked back over to Alex and engaged the startup sequence. "Alex. I'm going to keep you in for one hour. After that, we'll sedate you and bring you back. For now, we'll stay in the lab."

"Got it." He smiled and pulled the lid closed. The scanner came to life, beginning to spin. Inside, Alex closed his eyes, smiling with anticipation. A few minutes later, he became aware of new appendages. Opening his eyes slowly, he saw Dr. Harper staring down at him.

"How's it feel, Dr. Foster?" asked the man.

Alex smiled and slowly inched up on his elbows to sit up. "Doc, this is amazing, but something doesn't feel right." He tested moving each of his arms and legs; he wiggled his toes. Suddenly, the avatar winced. "Oww! I figured it out!"

"What's wrong?" called Dr. Harper. "Where's the pain?"

The young avatar, in an expression of pain, turned sideways a bit. A moment later, the reason for his sudden outburst became obvious. His tail flicked out violently and flopped back and forth for a bit. It had gone numb from the body being laid directly on its back while it was waiting for its driver.

"Okay, Dr. Harper," said Alex with a frown. "Do Grace and Sakura a favor. Turn those guys on their sides and let their tails free. I feel like someone stapled me to a wall."

"Oh, my goodness," exclaimed the older man and immediately motioned another staff member to adjust the other two bodies into a more comfortable position. "Sorry about that, Alex. We'll account for that in the next set of examination tables. Okay, please try and stand up, _slowly_."

Max watched carefully through the observation window as the younger doctor threw his large blue legs over the edge of the table and slowly eased them to the floor.

"That's it, Alex. Steady…" The strong man took Alex's hand and helped the avatar get to his feet. Once fully erect, the burly man only came up to the young doctor's waistline.

"Damn, I'm tall!" said Alex with a smile. "Hello down there!" He looked down at the smaller figure that was Dr. Harper and waved, sporting a silly grin. The man just shook his head and took the avatar's hands.

"Come on, Mr. Comedian," called Harper. "Let's see if you can walk."

"Okay, I'll give it a shot."

With Dr. Harper's help, Alex walked slowly around the lab, gaining confidence. In a few minutes, he was perfectly capable of walking on his own.

"I'm good!" called Alex. "Can we go outside? Please?" The avatar made large, golden puppy dog eyes at Dr. Harper. The human looked skeptical before pressing the button for the intercom to Max.

"I don't know, Max. I'll let you make the call on this one." The stocky doctor looked back at Alex as he continued to parade around the room happily.

Before Max could answer, a strong hand gripped his shoulder. The doctor shrugged and answered automatically. "Yes, Sakura?"

"You will address me properly, Dr. Patel," said the stern young administrator. "I take my job as seriously as you do, you know." Her English had vastly improved over the last year. She only broke into her old speech habits when she became overly excited.

The doctor bowed curtly. "My apologies, _Administrator Sakura_."

"That's better," smiled the girl and patted the doctor's arm, patronizingly. "Let him go outside. We need to see what these bodies can do."

Max laughed at girl's demeanor. "You can be so cute sometimes, when you aren't being a little bitch."

"Hey, now!" snapped Sakura as she swung and stopped the blade of her hand an inch from Max's nose, grinning aggressively. The doctor didn't even flinch. He just turned to face her and smiled back. The girl smiled wider. "You are getting better, Max."

"Thank you," responded Max with a small nod. "Now, seriously, I'm not so sure we should rush this. Dr. Foster is still getting used to his new body. His coordination isn't 100% where it needs to be, just yet. We need to take it slowly."

"Nope!" the girl snapped. "Send him out now, or next time I break 'nose!"

"Oh, come on Sakura!" cried Max. "I'm tired of this game. You really need to listen to me on this. You're acting very immaturely!"

Sakura closed her eyes, looked down and blushed. "I'm sorry, Dr. Patel. I' under lot of pressure. RDA back home not patient." She looked back up at the man. "Please send him out. For me?"

Max exhaled and closed his eyes. Sakura really could be charming, sometimes. "This is a bad idea…" The scientist pushed the intercom button. "Okay, Dr, Harper. Please take Dr, Foster outside, but I need you to monitor him _very_ carefully."

"Alright, Max. I hope this is a good idea," expressed René. He turned to the avatar before him. "Alright, Alex. Listen to me _carefully_. We are going to go outside, but you are to stay right next to me. Is that understood?"

"Understood!" answered the avatar. Alex was beaming and immediately made his way to the external door, almost taking the medical equipment he was connected to with him. The equipment rolled to a stop against the examination table with a loud, metallic clunk. "Ah, sorry about that," he said and began to disconnect the leads from his body.

Back upstairs, Sakura squeezed Max's shoulder. "Thank you, Dr. Patel. This will look very good on 'progress report."

Max folded his arms and stared at Sakura, warningly. "Administrator, I must express my objections to this. These bodies require an extreme effort to manufacture. Not to mention the materials required. They are extremely expensive."

"I'm aware of that, Max." She placed her arm around his as they starred down at Alex and René opening the exterior door, making their way outside. The avatar looked up and waved at them as he walked through the doorway. Sakura smiled and leaned into the man, repositioning her arm around his waist. "I have faith in you, Max. You are 'very smart man." She squeezed him tightly. "Don't let me down on this, okay?" She let the man go and walked over to a link bed, placing her hand on top of it, running it along the smooth surface. "I am ready, Max. Please tell me what to do."

* * *

_A year earlier…_

After being dropped off by the Valkyrie Shuttle _Polo_, Nawm had walked all the way to the Southern Sea before he decided that he could not survive alone out in the forest. Sure, he was able to hunt for food and protect himself from the local wildlife, but he was extremely lonely. The pictures on Max's parting gift were becoming like a wound that would not heal. He missed Alex so much, he cried as he thumbed through the images, always stopping on the one with Alex, Max and Grace in front of the window. Tears staining his cheeks, he lay down on a leaf bed inside the hollow of a large tree. Putting the HoloPad aside, he tried to sleep, eventually succeeding.

The next morning, he was startled awake by a strange noise next to him. His golden eyes looked upon the HoloPad he had left lying beside him once he had finally nodded off. On its screen was a flashing dot. The noise was coming from there. Next to the dot was an arrow. When the Na'vi stood up, pad in hand, he noticed that the arrow would turn, based on the direction he was facing. He didn't understand many human writings, but he had picked up a few simple words and phrases while he was on the Magellan. Next to the dot were letters; A L E X. Nawm looked at the screen carefully, slowly sounding out the letters.

"A…"

"AL…"

"AL…E…"

"EX…"

The hunter's eyes went wide and he gasped. "Alex! My Alex!" He ran out of the hollow and onto the limb of the tree he was in, watching the screen carefully. The arrow pointed south, across the vast sea.

"_I must bond with a new Ikran,"_ he thought, sighing. _"I must fly!"_

He only had one choice; he had to return to his clan and complete _Iknimaya_, again.

* * *

After a full day's ride on a wild _Pa'li_, Nawm stared up at his old hometree; his _Kelutral_, standing tall and proud in a valley, deep in the mountains. There was an ikran nesting ground near by, but he would need to seek spiritual guidance before he tried bonding with another mount. The thought of flying with one other than Txan was painful for the young hunter, but he needed to heal the wound of the loss of his great friend.

Upon exiting the mountain pass and entering the clearing, he was stopped immediately by _Tipani_ warriors, weapons drawn.

"Stop where you are, traveler!" called the Na'vi immediately in front of him. Looking among the three warriors confronting him, Nawm did not recognize them. He had been missing for a very long time. It only stood to reason that he would be seen as a stranger.

"Please, I mean you no harm. I am Nawm, one of your brethren." Nawm extended his arms in the traditional greeting of the Tipani clan. "Please, brother. I have been gone for a long time. I wish a meeting with Sänume at once. It is urgent."

The warriors looked at each other and then back at Nawm. "Come this way."

He was escorted into the base of the giant tree by two of the guards and they quickly ascended the spiral walkway up to the first level. There, he was told to wait as one of the guards walked forward to the Tsahik's chamber, disappearing inside. Nawm was incredibly nervous and struggled to maintain his composure. Would Sänume remember him? He looked around the first level of his old home. Many eyes were upon him; none familiar. Nawm began to wonder if he had been gone a lot longer than he had originally thought. Before he could contemplate further, the warrior emerged, the clan Tsahik directly behind him, ornately dressed in the traditional tunic of the spiritual leader. The old woman's eyes went wide when she saw the young hunter.

"Nawm, my child!" she exclaimed, running over and hugging him tightly. The warriors were dismissed and they started their way back down. "We all feared the worst when you left us that night, so long ago. We presumed that you would not return." She took the young Na'vi's arm and led him inside her chambers where they sat together on a pallet of grass, woven into a floor covering. "Where did you go, child? Why did you leave us?"

Nawm was not prepared for this. So much had happened. He didn't know where to begin. His thoughts drifted to Alex and he began to sob, placing his hands over his face.

"Oh, Nawm," called Sänume in the calm, soothing voice he remembered. She came closer to the young man and cupped his chin with her hand. "You have grown into a beautiful example of manhood. Please do not despair. Give me your story." She reached around for her queue and placed the end of it in Nawm's hand. The tendrils emerged, longing for a neural connection. "When you are ready," she said with a smile as she sat on the pallet, cross-legged.

Nawm hesitated for he knew that all his encounters would immediately become exposed. He did not know how well the clan would react to the news of the strange, pale visitors in their metal machines. He looked into the Tsahik's eyes, his fear betraying him. He pushed the braid away. "I'm sorry, but I can't."

The Tsahik's eyes narrowed a bit. "What do you fear? I will not judge you. I only wish to understand your feelings. Please share them with me." She placed her braid in his hand once again. "Tsahaylu, Nawm. Please."

The hunter closed his eyes and froze, afraid to make the connection. Tears streamed down his gentle face; angular features accented by the dim light of the bladder lanterns. "No. Please do not ask me to do this."

The Tsahik looked puzzled, then frustrated. "I sense strong feelings from you. For your own good and the good of the clan, I need to know what you have seen. You leave me no choice." In a quick flick of her wrist, the woman pricked the hunters arm with a needle from her tunic.

"No! Please, don't!" Nawm screamed as he grabbed his arm and fell backwards, trying to move away. He quickly became groggy as the drug took effect, soon unable to move. The woman sighed and took his braid in her hand and connected it to hers. She then placed the hunter's head in her lap and stroked his face endearingly.

"There, there," she coaxed as the bond was completed. "There is nothing to fear." She immediately closed her eyes and took a stoic stance as she queried Nawm's mind. "What is this?" Her stance hardened as she experienced Nawm's memories. Her eyes opened. "This cannot be possible!" She probed again, looking down at the paralyzed hunter. A tear made its way down his cheek. The woman reached her hand down and wiped the tear away. "You have found love… with one of _them!_" The leader raised her arms in the air. "Eywa, please help this child for he knows not what he does!"

She paused, turning to the food wrap he had carried in with him. Opening it, she extracted the HoloPad. "So this is the Hu-man ma-chine," exclaimed the woman. Touching the screen with her long fingers, it came to life on the picture Nawm loved so much. She touched the screen over the image of Alex. "So, this is your lost love. He is very handsome, but this is not to be. This will be hard for you, but you must forget. I can help." Another tear rolled down the hunter's cheek, his motionless body not capable of any other expression.

Suddenly, the Tsahik stood up. "Avatar…" She closed her eyes. "They take your blood." Her eyes opened wide and she gasped loudly. "They look like us! Eywa help us!"

Breaking the bond, she wearily collapsed to the floor, looking as if she were in a trance. Her eyes rolled over white and she spoke quietly. "Yes, all mother… I see you… Please, show me the way."

* * *

When Nawm awakened, he was in a nivi, high within the hometree. It was light out; very early morning. Looking around him, many Na'vi were still sleeping soundly. He gasped when he remembered the previous night. "Oh, no!" he cried. "They will attack!"

He climbed out of the hammock and hastily made his way back into the trunk, hurrying down to Sänume's level. Hopefully, he was not too late. As he entered the room, there was much energetic conversation. Apparently, they had been debating all night long. Sänume noticed Nawm immediately.

"So!" exclaimed the spiritual leader. "He has awakened!" The young hunter looked around to discover all leadership figures present, including Tan Jala. "Come. Join us!" called Sänume. Cautiously, he sat next to the woman, who not only served as their Tsahik, but also as their _Olo'eyktan_. Tan Jala continued speaking where he had left off.

"I accept the task of meeting with these Hu-mans," he said proudly. "I will fly out today with Nawm and two of our best warriors." He held up the HoloPad. "This hu-man device was brought to us by Nawm." He then passed the HoloPad to Nawm. "Nawm will use this _ma-chine_ to lead the way back to them. We will then ascertain as to whether they are friend, or foe." He looked over at Nawm. "I sincerely hope they are not the later." He continued addressing the room. "It will be a long journey. The hu-mans live across the vast, southern sea."

The elders began to mutter amongst themselves. Sänume stomped her foot to demand silence.

"Is such a journey possible?" cried Beyda'amo, a proud warrior. "Your ikran will tire before you complete the journey across. It is a fool's quest!"

"Calm, my brother," called Sänume. "I suspect the southern sea is not as vast as you may think. There are songs of our ancestors who made the journey across the sea to and communed with the scared tree, _Vitraya Ramunong_. The Tree of Souls."

Beyda'amo huffed loudly. "The tree is only a legend. There is no proof it actually exists."

"No, we do not have direct evidence," said Sänume, coming to her feet and walking towards the warrior's position in the circle of elders. "But the songs are very clear. The sacred tree stands south, beyond the waters, deep in the mountains."

Muttering began again. The elders were tired and in need of sleep. Sänume knew she would have to make her case quickly. "Nawm has returned with truth to many of the legends. The _Txon pongu._ Yes! They _exist_, far, far away on their island of fire. Nawm has seen them with his very eyes. He did battle with the monsters we fear in our sleep!" The murmur returned and all eyes were on Nawm.

"Is this true?" questioned Beyda'amo. "The Night People actually exist?"

Nawm, trying the build a little confidence stood and addressed the group. "They are called _olo' fkeu ik atxkxe._" The group began to laugh at his effeminate tone of voice. Nawm, growing angry, raised his voice. "And _yes_, I fought off their mighty Olo'eyktan with my bare hands!"

More laughter.

"Stop laughing at me!" the hunter cried, loosing his confidence. They only laughed harder, despite Sänume's shouting in a futile attempt to restore order. Tan Jala just looked on in disbelief at the childish reaction from his peers. Nawm dropped his hands to his sides and bowed his head.

"You defeated the clan leader of the _Txon pongu_ with your bare hands?" laughed Beyda'amo. He turned to the others. "This sissy boy can barely ride a Pa'li, let alone make battle!" He turned back to Nawm and spit at the ground. "You insult me. Waste my time! The very sight of you is dishonorable." He stood up and looked over the young Na'vi hunter. Shaking his head, the tall Na'vi warrior abruptly stomped out of the meeting, chin high. Several others stood up and followed, making much laugher as they made their way up the spiral towards the _nivi_ to get what little sleep was left. The young hunter fell to his knees and began to sob softly. Sänume approached slowly and placed her slender hand on the young Na'vi's shoulder. Tan Jala came forward as well, placing his hand on Nawm's other shoulder and wiping away Nawm's tears with the large thumb of his free hand.

"I believe you, Nawm," spoke the master hunter. "Our great Tsahik is rarely wrong on these things. The bond of Tsaheylu is un-lying. No falsities can traverse the link. I believe what she witnessed and wish to meet these mighty people. But, let us first start with your close friends." He looked over the young hunter with curiosity. "You carry yourself as one with great loss, my brother."

"His beloved is with these hu-mans," chimed in Sänume. "I do not understand, but Eywa has told me it is her will for them to be joined. The Great Mother must not be forsaken. I will do everything in my power to assure that her will is fulfilled. I suspect there is more of this story waiting to unfold. His hu-man friend may very well be the key to unlocking some great mysteries for _all_ Na'vi people."

Tan Jala laughed heartily. "I cannot even _begin_ to imagine what you must have seen in this boy's confused mind." He knelt down and took Nawm's chin is his big, sturdy hand. "Nawm, I will help you find what your heart seeks." He stood up, motioning Nawm to rise with him. "Come. We must prepare. Where is your ikran?"

Nawm, looked down again. "Txan is lost. I fear I pushed him too hard in my attempt to fly away from this place." He looked up towards the elders ascending the spiral. "You see. _They _are the reason I left! They all _hate_ me! I just want to leave this place forever. I never expected to return here."

"Nawm, my brother," calmed Tan Jala. "Do not judge all based upon the actions of a few. Beyda'amo may be strong, but he does _not_ speak for all of the clan." The master hunter smiled. "But enough of this! I am sorry for your loss. Losing one's ikran is something every Na'vi must face. Be strong, young one. To lose one's mount so early in life will burnish the control of your feelings. Your next bond will be very strong. Now, come. There is a group of young hunters leaving today for _Iknimaya_. If you hurry, you can be among them."

Nawm smiled. "Okay. Thank you, Tan Jala. I will fly with you. Together, we will find my Alex."

"Yes, my brother," said the master hunter. Sänume says this hu-man may be the key to unlocking some of our oldest history; might even lead the way to this fabled Tree of Souls. I believe there will be new songs sung upon our successful return." He smiled brightly. "Glorious songs!"

"Perhaps," Nawm responded and curtly bowed to his clan mate in the traditional gesture. "I see you, brother."

"I see you, Nawm. Now, catch yourself a big one!"

"Alright!"

Nawm scampered down the spiral to the ground level where he saw the line of would-be warriors, ready to leave. As he stepped up to the end of the line, has heart sank. Beyda'amo was leading the group. The warrior scowled when he saw the effeminate hunter.

"No! Go back!" he yelled, pointing at Nawm. "You will be a bad influence on the others. I will not tolerate another of your failures."

Nawm began to protest, but the young candidates immediately began to laugh at the high pitched whine of his voice.

One of younger men looked at Nawm curiously. Turning back to Beyda'amo, he spoke loudly. "Didn't Nawm already complete Iknimaya? Did his ikran reject him?" The youth scoffed. "I would have. Who would wish to fly with that?" He pointed meaningfully at the older candidate.

Beyda'amo laughed and placed his hands on the youth's shoulders. "Tsu'tey, you will make a fine warrior. Now, I want you to show the girl-boy Nawm how it is done." He looked over at Nawm. "If you are to come with us, you must prove yourself worthy to the young Tsu'tey."

"I will not answer to arrogant youthlings," said Nawm, stubbornly. Switching to English, he went on. "That kid is a brat. He can suck my…"

"Silence!" screamed the master warrior. "Hold your tongue, insolent! That wretched alien speech pains my ears! Respect the youth, or go back. It is your choice. But control your words. I will not warn you again."

"Geez, what a piece of work…" mumbled Nawm in English. Tsu'tey looked up at Nawm, confused. "I do not understand your works."

"He speaks the alien tongue of the Hu-mans," injected Beyda'amo. The warrior turned to Nawm again. "Do not speak such words again, girl-boy!"

"Fuck you!"

The warrior didn't need to know English to understand that Nawm was cursing him with an insult. The tone of voice was unmistakable. The warrior's eyes narrowed, but then he calmed himself. "So, the girl-boy has a little fire after all." He smiled. "I will enjoy watching an ikran throw you into the abyss! Now, we must be on our way. The _pa'li_ are ready. We ride!"

* * *

Nawm had to grit his teeth and bare the arrogant young Tsu'tey's commands as they traveled to the nesting grounds of the ikran. The group of Na'vi had split into teams of two once they started the climb into the floating mountains, their direhorses left behind.

As they climbed, Tsu'tey would purposely smack Nawm in the face with his tail, a Na'vi insult. The young man would giggle every time he did it. Nawm swallowed his irritation and continued to climb. The other two groups were progressing faster, a gap growing between them.

"Why are you so slow, boy-lover?" Tsu'tey slapped Nawm in the face with his tail, again. The boy looked down at Nawm and giggled, slapping him yet again. Nawm had taken all he could stand. Upon cresting the next floating platform of rock, the older hunter grabbed Tsu'tey's tail and pulled the youth towards him, taking the kid by surprise. Locking him in a strong embrace from behind, he took the youth's tail and caressed the boy's face with the tuff at the end.

"You should respect your elders, young one," said Nawm with a seductive tone of voice. He ran the tuft along Tsu'tey's neck, as if trying to tickle it. The youth's breathing picked up as he struggled to free himself.

"What are you doing, freak? You are not my elder! Release me!" cried Tsu'tey.

"I have 3 seasons on you, child!" spat Nawm. He ran his left hand along Tsu'tey's torso, feeling the powerful muscles under the tight skin. "You will submit to me, or I will do very girl-boy things to you." His hand made its way to the youth's loincloth, caressing the flesh behind it.

Tsu'tey froze, instantly understanding what was happening. In stubborn pride, he stood his ground. "I will not submit to you, freak!" He closed his eyes and exhaled as Nawm massaged his member, which was beginning to respond. His legs began to shake as his erection began to rise.

"So, who's the freak now? You seem to be enjoying this, sexy boy. Are you also a girl-boy, Tsu-tey?" Nawm laughed menacingly as the younger male finally began to submit. The boy was beginning to pant and his toes began to curl at the uncontrolled pleasure.

"Stop…"

"Not until you stop using my head as a punching bag." Nawm ran his thumb over the tip of Tsu-tey's erection as he squeezed the shaft gently. It obediently flexed to rock-hard in his hand. "You are really into this…"

The boy could not take anymore. Before long, he would come in Nawm's hand. He refused to let it come to that. "Okay, stop! I submit! I submit!" cried the youth.

Nawm smiled and loosened his grip on the boy. Tsu'tey immediately spun away from the older hunter; a prominent left-leaning fold in his loincloth and his darkened complexion a dead give away as to his condition. "My goodness, Tsu'tey. What will you do about that?" he asked sexily, eying the boy's loincloth. The tip of his erection was visible out the left side of the garment. Tsu'tey groaned.

"Look away!" the boy yelled. "I'm not a girl-boy!"

Nawm laughed and turned his back, giggling as he listened to Tsu'tey scamper up to the next platform to finish the job. His thoughts fell to Alex. _"I want to do that to _you_, my Alex_." He sighed. "Once I get my ikran, I will find you." His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Tsu'tey's moaning. Nawm's ear flicked wide as he hear the sound of uncontrolled release coming from above. The hunter put his hand over his mouth in awe as he saw the younger boy's seed shoot from the ledge above, some of it landing on the ledge in front of him.

"Holy _Shit!_" Nawm exclaimed, in English. Wanting Tsu'tey to understand him, he switched back to Na'vi. "Someone needs to find a mate!"

"Shut-up, girl-boy."

Nawm just smiled and climbed up to meet him. He giggled when he saw Tsu'tey was still extremely flushed. "Aww, that's so cute. Are you going to behave, now?"

"I hope your ikran bites your head off."

Nawm smirked. "Well, I see we understand each other, then."

Tsu'tey no longer tried to slap Nawm with his tail and they began to catch up to the rest of the group. Tsu'tey would occasionally look down at the older Na'vi, his skin remaining flushed for a while. Nawm could see that the younger boy's loincloth was still somewhat tented. Apparently, Tsu'tey was not satisfied.

"_Damn… That boy needs to get laid."_ Nawm thought, his own flesh still hard and dissatisfied. He hastened his pace towards the top of the mountainside. The faster he got this done, the better.

* * *

_Back to the present…_

Nawm followed his target carefully. He would only have one chance to complete his task. The hunter took a deep breath and readied his weapon. Swooping lower, he sent his new ikran _Mune_ in a diving curve to the right. He pulled back on his bow and took the shot. Direct hit! His prey fell to the ground. Excited, Nawm landed nearby and ran over to claim his prize. He looked down at his kill and immediately screamed.

"Alex!"

The hunter snapped awake to the sound of a rainstorm. He and Tan Jala were dry and sleeping safely inside a hollow. The older man groaned from the outburst, but did not wake. Nawm looked at his hands. He could still feel the taught bowstring in his left hand. _"Why did I dream that I killed Alex?"_ With much difficulty, he lay and fell back asleep, making sure his bow was on the other side of the room. _"Tomorrow is the big day,"_ he thought as he nodded off.

The next morning was very humid from the heavy rain. Nawm woke early in anticipation of what was to come. They were almost on top of the "blip" on the HoloPad. "We are very close now," said Nawm. "I can feel it!"

"Let us hope so," answered Tan Jala. "We have come a very long way." He placed a hand on Nawm's shoulder. "But I will trust your Hu-man ma-chine. There is something happening a short distance in front of us - sounds that are alien to my ears. I suspect we have found your Hu-man tribe."

"Yes, master. I think our journey has come to an end." Nawm smiled and placed his hand on top of Tan Jala's. "Thank you, brother. You are a good friend. We would have never made it without you." The junior hunter stared in the direction of the human colony. "What will you do, now?" he asked his elder. "What are your plans?"

Tan Jala stood up and smiled. "I want to meet these Hu-mans. I want to commune with them and learn their ways as you have. I suspect they have questions about us. I want to help answer them." He paused for a moment and closed his eyes. "I have often dreamed that there would be visitors not bore of Eywa. I believe the All Mother brought them to us!" The older man stood up. "Come now! Let us fly now and we will spread Eywa's goodness!"

"Yes!" cried Nawm as he called for his ikran. The beautiful scarlet red banshee landed shortly afterwards with a shriek; Tan Jala's mount right behind her. Making the bond, they both took to the sky, calling loudly.

Passing over and into the next clearing, they saw it: structures that were not of Na'vi or Eywa's design. The humans were everywhere, riding in their machines and working the ground, furiously. Then they saw something that was unexpected: there were Na'vi working the field, wearing human clothing.

"What is this?" cried Tan Jala. "It appears we are not the first to greet the humans."

"Master, I will explain later," called Nawm. "We should dismount here. We will be treated as hostiles if we fly over their village. They will fire their weapons upon us."

"That is wise," Tan Jala responded. "We'll land here at the forest edge, but they have already seen us. They are coming towards us now in those walking ma-chines."

"Yes, they call them AMP suits," said Nawm. "Let me handle this."

Confidently, Nawm took off his weapons harness and faced the approaching AMP drivers; their cannons at the ready. The Na'vi hunter addressed them loudly, in English.

"Hi!" Nawm waved his hand in a peace gesture. "Greetings to the people of Earth! We mean you no harm!" He turned to Tan Jala with a smirk and said, "I heard that in a movie." The older man was totally confused. Alex frowned and waved him off. "Never mind…"

The poor AMP drivers were so dumbfounded they just turned and looked at each other without saying a word.

Puzzled, the hunter continued. "Come on, guys! It's me! Nawm!" No response.

The Na'vi raised his arms, pleading. "Come on, don't you remember me? You're making me nervous."

Inside one of the AMP suits, Nawm saw that the driver was talking furiously to someone, as if arguing. Tan Jala looked at Nawm with fear. "What is happening, Nawm? Do we ready our weapons?"

"No, I think we are safe. They are talking to their superiors," answered the younger hunter, his brow starting to get damp. "Hopefully, my Alex is near and will save me."

"And what about me?" asked the master hunter. "I have no beloved to protect me. Is your Alex going to come to my aid, as well?" Nawm just shrugged his shoulders.

"You do not instill much confidence, young one." The older Na'vi shook his head and prepared for the worst.

The AMP drivers continued to jabber on their radios, guns still pointed at the Na'vi hunters. Nawm was growing bold and impatient.

"Hey, Jarhead!" yelled Nawm. "Tell Quaritch that his sexy Na'vi lover is back from exile!"

There was an audible chuckle from the AMP driver on the left. The tail end of it was heard as he engaged his speaker. "…ahha… Yes, I just got confirmation of who you are. Please sit tight as we are awaiting orders from… your lover." More laughter as he turned off the speaker. The AMP driver on the left just stood there, not sure what to do with him self. Meanwhile, his comrade was about to lose himself with laughter.

"My companion is named Tan Jala," announced Nawm. "He wishes to meet with you all." He turned to the master hunter.

"Ee-llo?" he said timidly, in English.

"Greetings," answered the lead AMP driver. "I've been given orders to escort you to my superiors. Please follow me." They both lowered their weapons and turned back towards the human encampment.

"Where is my Alex?" asked Nawm, running up along side the lead driver.

Tan Jala stayed a few steps behind, still not completely comfortable with the aliens leading them towards the strange city of human structures. The black ground they stepped onto was hot and hard on the feet. The older hunter hissed at the harsh environment.

"What is this ground?" he complained. "It is ill suited for my feet."

Nawm was focused on the AMP driver for his answer. "My Alex… where is he?"

The driver groaned and continued to stomp forward. "He is… around." They approached the newly completed hangar building. Stepping inside, there were more AMP suits and other vehicles which Nawm did not recognize.

"Wait here," called the driver. "The base administrator will be right with you." They both stomped back out of the hangar, presumably returning to their duty stations. Several human soldiers in environment suits remained to watch over the Na'vi. Weapons were pointed at them, so they dared not say a word, although Nawm was growing very impatient.

A few minutes later, they were both approached by a strangely dressed Na'vi being led by a pair of humans. Tan Jala stared intensely at the Na'vi, not able to take his eyes off the beautiful female before him. Her hair was down past her shoulders, braided neatly and decorated with local wild flowers.

"Eywa, bless my eyes…" he chanted. He eyed the woman up and down, consuming her. She was wearing garments that covered most of her body, but her curves were quite visible through the tightly fitted clothing. Nawm noticed his companion's enthusiasm and shook his head with a smile. Their host noticed as well, not minding the older hunter's gaze. She even smiled at him before turning to Nawm. She was noticeably leaning on the humans to help her walk.

"You are Nawm, correct?" addressed the woman.

The younger hunter nodded in confirmation, a bit taken back himself by the young woman's extraordinary beauty.

"My name is administrator Sakura." Just as Nawm was about to speak, Tan Jala rudely pushed the younger man aside.

"Oe ma Tan Jala. Nga lor tutee!" exclaimed the older Na'vi. "Fyape ngop nga?" He took the woman's hand and knelt, kissing her fingers. Sakura was very surprised, but appeared to be flattered. She turned to Nawm who frowned at the man.

"Nawm, what did he say?" asked the administrator. "I do not know your language." She looked back down at the man and smiled. "I suspect he is flattering me."

"Yes, Administrator. He is. He thinks you are very beautiful." Nawm cleared his throat loudly and switched back to Na'vi, addressing his elder. "Tan Jala, what are you doing? Looking for a human mate?"

"Hu-man?" He stood back up and looked Sakura over, carefully. He then noticed her five fingered hand. "How is this possible? I do not understand."

Nawm laughed. "Sakura, you are in one of Dr. Patel's avatars, aren't you?"

The young female avatar smiled and her skin flushed a bit. "Yes, Nawm. Max's program is a huge success. I, Drs. Augustine and Foster are all effectively using these bodies."

"Alex?" asked Nawm. "My Alex… Where is he?"

She laughed loudly. "I suspected you would be looking for him. How did you find us?"

Nawm extracted the HoloPad from his food wrap and turned it on, displaying the tracing grid.

"_Max…"_ thought Sakura. "Fascinating… How long have you been travelling to find us?"

"The date on the HoloPad indicates almost one of your years has passed," said Nawm. "Where is my Alex?"

"Wait, Nawm…" Sakura put up her arm to try and curb young man's enthusiasm. "Nawm, it isn't that simple. I can't just let you roam free around the base. We are under strict orders not to engage with the Na'vi. Do you understand?"

"But… why?" Nawm began to look disappointed. "I just want to be with my Alex."

"We have orders from Earth to shoot any natives that approach the perimeter. However, I have instructed the marines not to shoot unless provoked. You are both very lucky to be alive."

She looked back over to Tan Jala, who was still entranced. He smiled at her, tilting his head to admire. She smiled back, slyly.

"Do you like me?" She swung her hips a bit, tail swinging seductively, clearly enjoying her power over him. She laughed before leaning down to her human handlers who were laughing as well. "Let's all go inside where it is quieter." Indeed, the sounds of the base were making it difficult to talk. "Nawm, please tell your handsome friend that he will be safe inside our buildings, but the air will smell strange to him."

"Right," he acknowledged. "Now, about my Alex… When can I see…"

"Later," Sakura interrupted as they strode slowly into an airlock. The space wasn't designed for Na'vi sized bodies, so they all had to duck through the doorway. "We will need to start making those bigger." Tan Jala nearly panicked when the air changed. Sakura held the man's hand and smiled at him. Her technique worked and he was immediately calmed.

"You are quite the charmer, Administrator," called up one of her handlers. The name _Anderson_ was stitched on her uniform. "I'm going to miss walking you around once you fully get the hang of walking on your own. You really have a delightful effect on the men. Now, I see it works on the natives, as well. You are hot stuff!"

Sakura was clearly becoming embarrassed. "No, you flatter 'too much. You' too kind." She closed her eyes and laughed when she realized her control of the English language had slipped again. Her handlers laughed with her. The young woman now laughed with everyone together when this happened. Civilian personnel had actually learned to like her, treating the administrator as a friend, despite her strict manner of running base operations. On the other hand, the military was not quite so entertained. This next meeting would be yet another trial of that relationship.

* * *

"Absolutely not!" yelled Quaritch. "I say throw them back immediately. Have you forgotten that we are under strict orders _not_ to have relations with the natives?" The Colonel eyed the faces around the table. The colony's small complement of senior staff was there, including military brass and civilian leaders. Max was there as well. In total, eight people were seated around the makeshift conference table in the mess hall. Everyone sat on the same benches enlisted personnel enjoyed their meals. Nawm and Tan Jala were seated at the head of the table, sitting on supply crates. Nawm translated quietly for the older hunter as the meeting progressed. Nawm was disappointed that Alex was not among the participants.

"Colonel," called Sakura, back in her human body. "Things have changed since that order was handed down. Our quotas are being met. Earth's first shipment of unobtainium is already on the way. RDA officials are very happy with our progress. Remember, we are on our _own_ out here. The natives would make powerful allies.

"Ma'am," countered the Marine. "Have you no regard for what my men went through to secure this facility? I have lost _ten_ of my best soldiers protecting these grounds. As far as I'm concerned, that was ten too many." He stood up and walked over to the window, looking outward into the forest. "I know what's out there. The beast is not our friend. We have one mission out here. I will not see it jeopardized over some misguided optimism that the indigenous actually want to be our friends. Trust me. They do _not_."

"Colonel, please-"

"Night people! Need I say more?" He stared sternly back at the group and met with each member's eyes, individually. "They destroyed our shuttle and nearly skewered and barbequed the entire crew. Now, I'm not the smartest guy on this moon, but that sounds an awful lot like an enemy, to me! They only want one thing from us: death." After a pause to let his words settle, he returned to his seat, hands clasped, and returned attention to the Administrator. "Ma'am, you have the floor."

The young woman lowered her eyes and held silence. She looked up at the members around the table, which had her full attention. The only sound in the room was the air filtration system. Tan Jala coughed at the audacious fumes, his color having changed a bit, along with Nawm's due to the changed environment. "Nawm… I'm sorry."

"What… but wait a minute!" cried the young man. "Are you saying we have to leave?" He looked frantically around the room. All eyes lowered, except the Colonel, who crossed his arms, looking satisfied. The young hunter turned to his elder. "Come, Tan Jala. I can see when we have worn out our welcome." They both stood up and made towards the door, their handlers standing with them. Nawm suddenly turned back and eyed Quaritch, sternly. _"He will not get away with this."_ He immediately thought of Alex. _"He must be here somewhere…"_ thought the hunter as they left the room.

Their handlers took the Na'vi hunters to the airlock to be paraded straight to the perimeter fence by AMP drivers. As the fence was opened and they crossed back onto the grassy meadow, Tan Jala seemed relived at the feel of real earth under his feet. Once they were outside, the fence closed behind them while the AMPs stood guard to insure they left the grounds completely.

"That went well…" said Nawm.

The elder hunter just breathed deeply and smiled. "I admit that I'm glad to be out of there. The environment was very hostile, don't you think? Some friends, you have." They begin to walk back to the forest. "That Administrator one… Sa-ku-ra, it was. She was a fine one. I must see her again."

"Okay, Casanova."

"I'm sorry?"

"Nevermind…"

Disheartened, Nawm and Tan Jala called their ikrans and took to the sky, searching the surrounding area. According to the older hunter, a Na'vi village was nearby. He had noticed it during journey to the human village. "It may be one of our sister clans," said the older man. Hopefully, they would be able to help.

**End **_of_** Chapter 7**

* * *

To be continued…


	9. Chapter 8: Power Play

Sorry for the delay. I've read some inspiring stories lately and thought:  
"It's time to get this going again." **Warning: T****his ****chapter ****contains ****sexual ****content.**

Thanks and enjoy,  
YaoiBoy

* * *

"Avatar" is the property of James Cameron and Twentieth Century Fox.  
I take no credit or monetary compensation for the fictional world referenced in this work.

* * *

**PRELUDE**: Who Are These People?

Eytukan looked down proudly from his perch, high in the branches of Hometree. It had been a good day. The hunt that morning had been fruitful and his people were preparing a great feast. Everyone was in a celebratory mood. Tonight, he and his new mate _Mo'at_ were to be inducted as the Omaticaya clan's next olo'eyktan and Tsa'hik. Yes, it was a great day indeed.

Suddenly, his smile turned to a frown when he noticed two forms emerge into a clearing straight ahead. He recognized them as the noisy, walking monsters that had recently appeared in the surrounding area. So far, they had not been a threat, but they had never come so close. Not one to take chances, he wailed a loud warning cry and made his way into the great tree trunk, descending down the levels. He needed to talk with his warriors immediately. The leader feared that this "perfect day" would now be lost.

"We have uninvited guests!" announced Eytukan as he entered the ground level from the central spiral. "The alien monsters approach our territory once again. Now is the time! We must meet with them. Be ready to defend our lands!"

The small group of seven warriors stood up and hooted in unison. "Warriors! We fly!" called the tallest member of the group, _Tsawl__'__ik_; a handsome but fierce Na'vi male who served as Eytukan's second in command. His hair was cropped shortly, forming only a narrow line on his forehead before forming his queue.

Six of them started immediately up the spiral to the ikran levels in the upper branches. Tsawl'ik and Eytukan ran outside on the ground level and chipped loudly - their ikrans swooping down a moment later to meet them.

_"Who are these aliens?"_ thought Eytukan as he made the link with his mount. _"Eywa, please let them be friends."_

* * *

**CHAPTER**** 8**: Power Play

Parker Selfridge nodded happily as he looked over the electronic manifest of the returning Magellan ISV. He was impressed, to say the least. He looked back at the monitor; the letters SL and a timer were displayed in the bottom right corner of the screen, indicating the comm. was relaying through the RDA's superluminal satellite. The timer was a constant reminder of the expensive nature of these transmissions. However, this one would be justified. The director smiled.

"Good work, captain. I'll send these numbers to the board," praised Selfridge. "They will be _very_ pleased." He pressed SEND and closed the comm. window. His message would be compressed and relayed using the least amount of data possible. The timer would automatically stop after 30 seconds. He immediately opened another comm. using normal speed channels. An older man in a business suit appeared, immediately asking for the results.

"Yes, sir. We have a full cargo hold of 98% pure unobtainium ore. The operation on Pandora is going _very_ well." He tried to express his pleasure, hoping it would carry through to other side. It would have no effect.

"So I've heard," answered the man. "However, I am disturbed by the reports on Administrator Sakura's apparently lax attitude towards the natives. I understand she even negotiated with them. You do understand the danger of this situation, yes?"

The director sighed. "Yes, sir. The issue has already been addressed. We are currently vetting for a viable replacement. The issue is… she has gotten pretty popular with the civilian population out there. A replacement at this time could prove… problematic."

The man smiled, gesturing with his right hand for the director to stop. "No need to vet, director. We have already picked a replacement."

The director's smile immediately vanished. "Pardon?"

"Pack your bags, director. You are the man we need out there. We need someone who always gets the job done and understands how to take orders." The man smiled, expectantly.

"Sir… really." Selfridge tried to hide his outrage. He failed. "Eh… No, this isn't happening. I mean… what? No. I need to talk to my attorney. I still have three years in this office."

The business man's cheerful mood was unchanged by the remarks. "The board has already finalized the changes to your contract. And don't bother with your attorney. He's already signed off." He clasped his hands. "You see… he was _very_ cooperative. Now, don't you worry! The new contract is very… lucrative. You simply can't refuse! It's a _done__ deal_."

"Like _hell_ it is!" exclaimed the director.

"There is a transport waiting for you outside," the man continued. "We are sending you to Luna Station for training."

Parker rolled his eyes. "I don't have to do this! You can't make me go." Huffing loudly, he reached towards the screen to kill the connection. He had heard enough of this outrage. However, the man laughed, causing the director to pause, keeping the connection open.

"Shall we talk about a little matter involving Morgan Investments?" He paused, expression now stoic. "Now, be a good boy and _get __on__ that __shuttle_. That's an _order_." The comm. signal closed from the remote side leaving a simple RDA logo in the middle of the HoloScreen.

Parker sighed and turned in his chair to take a longing look out the large office window. The Sun had poked through and it actually looked pleasant outside. Bright reflections radiated from the walls of the other buildings of the RDA campus complex.

"_And I was just getting past all that…"_ he thought._  
_

He stood up and walked over to the north wall. A panel opened smartly, revealing a blue, handheld plastic container on the shelf inside. Taking it back to his desk, he slowly began to place his personal items inside.

* * *

Nawm and Tan Jala immediately spotted the Na'vi hometree in the distance. As they approached, mounted ikrans were leaving towards the east. The older hunter chirped loudly, calling for Nawm to follow him. Together, they started to follow the Na'vi riders before them.

"I hope you know what you are doing!" shouted Nawm over the howling wind. "They might attack us, you know!"

"These Na'vi are our kin, young one," spoke Tan Jala proudly. "They are called the _Omaticaya_. They and the Tipani used to be _one_."

Nawm's ears perked up at the elder's words. "Really?" He flew his ikran closer so he could hear more clearly. "What happened? Why did the clans separate?"

"That is a long story," Tan Jala said solemnly. "I will tell you the tale when there is time. Right now, we join in the hunt!" The hunter raised his bow proudly in his left hand and charged forward to catch up with their brethren.

"Tan Jala… I don't think that is a hunting party!"

"Nonsense! Keep up!"

* * *

Nawm cursed loudly as he dove to take cover inside a hollow; the sound of arrows and spears hitting the bark of the tree as he crawled inside. "Damned fool!" he cried, composing himself. He had bailed from his ikran, telling it to fly away to safety. He could only hope his mount was safe. Once the volley was finished he slowly poked his head outside to see if it was safe.

"Halt!" Nawm heard in Na'vi from directly behind him. Sighing, he slowly put his hands over his head and walked outside. One of the Na'vi warriors immediately grabbed Nawm's queue and put a knife to his throat. Looking about, there were five of them; three male, two female.

"Calm, my brothers," called Nawm, softly. "We are friends! Kin, even! Just ask Tan Jala!" The other Na'vi looked at each other for a moment and back at Nawm.

A large man scowled. He appeared to be the leader. "You must be a spy for the pink cowards!"

"_Pink__ cowards?__"_ thought Nawm. "Oh! You mean the Humans! No! They are the enemy! I came to fight with you against them!" The warriors began to scowl. Nawm quickly realized he had inadvertently switched to English. "Oops…"

"Arrr… You even speak their foul tongue! KILL HIM IMMEDIATELY!"

The woman holding the knife acknowledged, but hesitated.

"Wait!" called a voice in the distance. It was Tan Jala and another warrior. Nawm had never been so happy to see the older man and waved enthusiastically. The woman pulled his queue to get him to calm himself, but stayed the execution order. They all turned to look at the approaching Na'vi.

"Release him!" called Eytukan. The woman obeyed immediately, relinquishing Nawm's queue and replacing the knife in its sheath. She seemed relieved.

"My Lord," called the lead warrior. "I believe this one to be a spy!" He pointed at Nawm with a scowl. "He speaks their tongue."

"Tsawl'ik! Do not rush to judgment," responded the olo'eyktan. "The _hu-mans_ left our lands peacefully without making battle. I believe they mean no harm." As the leader approached, he looked at Nawm curiously and pointed. "I want to talk with this one. Tell me your story."

Together, Nawm and Tan Jala told the noble leader of their quest and eventual banishment from the human facility. They discussed Nawm's "domestication" into the human society as well as the young hunter's desire to return to them and find his would-be mate. Eytukan found the news regarding the Avatars intriguing and he nodded agreeably.

"I want to meet with them," said Eytukan once their story was finished. He looked back at Nawm and smiled. "You must join me. You can talk with the visitors. I want us all to be friends." His second in command was not so enthusiastic.

"Eytukan, I must object to this!" he said, stepping in between Nawm and the leader. "They are _invaders!_"

Nawm decided to chime in, standing next to the larger warrior. "Yes. Unfortunately, they do not welcome us. As I said, we are banished from their fortress. Their warriors seem to hate us."

The leader groaned. "I want no tensions between us. We will watch the hu-mans closely, but will not approach them unless they encroach near our lands again." Tsawl'ik nodded in agreement. "Meanwhile, let us return to Hometree. These Na'vi are our kin. They have traveled far and are members of the famed Tipani clan. We have not seen the likes of them for many songs. Come! We feast in celebration of this historic meeting!"

* * *

Max pounded his fist on the worktable, having just read the latest communiqué from Earth. New orders from the RDA offices were clear: they saw the Avatar program as a means for more efficient mining of unobtainium. Avatar bodies didn't consume resources like humans. They could eat Pandoran foodstuffs and breathe the air without exo-packs. In short, it was going to save the RDA money. Max was ordered to immediately step up production of the hybrid bodies and train more drivers. He was given a new title: Director of Avatar Operations. Creating more Avatars meant collecting more Na'vi DNA samples. Max had exhausted the supply provided by Nawm. More would need to be gathered.

Alex climbed into Link Unit number one. Today, he would be leaving the compound for the first time in his Avatar. Grace and Sakura would be joining him. Alex had requested only one unarmed AMP escort accompany them, but had been refused. Three fully armed AMPs would be coming along: Quaritch's orders. Their mission was to gather Na'vi DNA for the Avatar program. What better way than to meet with the natives? Of course, they didn't relay this strategy back to headquarters.

The Hell's Gate refinery was in full production. This meant steel for new vehicles. Now in their Avatars, Alex, Grace and Sakura rode in one of their first new machines: a Samson type tilt-rotor cargo helicopter; an old design reinvented for use on Pandora. Seated in the cargo area, the three took in the sites of the forests like no human ever could before. The crew of the vehicle could barely contain themselves and jabbered on the comms delightfully.

"What a beautiful world," said Grace. "Like Earth, decades ago." Alex reached over and squeezed the older doctor's arm. Sakura did the same. "We should try and protect it. You know the human race will work to destroy this world as we did ours." They all nodded soberly.

The Samson landed in a clearing not too far from what appeared to be a Na'vi tree village, about 100 kilometers west of Hell's Gate. There was a survey team already nearby, collecting data for future mining and the study of plant-life. They had been quietly watching the Na'vi for some weeks now. So far, dealings with the natives appeared to be friendly. The Avatars would wait here until the AMP team arrived to escort them into the forest.

When the Avatars hopped off the aircraft and walked into one of the small, wood buildings, their mouths dropped open. Inside were a human scientist and a dozen or so Na'vi children. To their delight, the Avatars did not have to duck through the doorway to enter as the building was sized for the Na'vi. The human scientist was Dr. Harper, who appeared to be talking to the children from behind an exo-pack, as if attempting to learn their language. He beamed with delight when the Avatars entered.

"Well look at you all!" All eyes turned to the hybrids and loud hoots of excitement were immediately heard from the children. "Yes, yes! Come in!" They all walked over and sat on the ground next to the child-sized doctor. All the children came forward, eager to see and touch these strange new visitors that looked similar to themselves.

"Pesu nga?" asked one curious little girl, pointing to Sakura. She was about Dr. Harper's height, even though she was still very young. Her queue had just started to come in and the hair around it was braided nicely with colorful decorations. The doctor looked at Alex and smiled.

"Peyral Sakura," Harper said to the girl who then smiled sheepishly, looking back to the beautiful Avatar. Grace had gotten over the initial fascination and wanted answers.

"René, what's going on here?" she asked, taking a smaller blue hand that had reached out to hers. She let the kid play with her five fingered hand, turning it over and over while moving the fingers. Grace took her hand back. "Relations with the natives are supposed to be forbidden." She smiled at the girl who had asked Alex's name.

"Hel-lo," said the girl shyly _in__ English_. "My… n... n… name is… Taw'tsawke".

Grace and Sakura looked at the young girl with amazement. Sakura looked back to Dr. Harper.

"You have been teaching them English?" cried the Administrator. The children went silent at the sound of Sakura's raised voice. "Doctor, really? This is not a good idea! The RDA would be very upset."

"Mawey, ayeveng," Dr. Harper said to the startled children. "Do not be afraid. They are our friends," he said slowly. They seemed to understand him. Grace smiled brightly, gesturing Sakura to back down.

"How long?" she asked the doctor. "How long have you been teaching them?"

"About a month," he answered. "They are incredibly intelligent. I'd say their IQs would be above 200, if they were human. They are picking up English faster than a professional linguist. They are certainly faster than me!" He laughed heartily. "I'm slowly learning their language. Little _Taw_ here has been teaching me." He placed his hand on the girl's shoulder and she turned her head and smiled at him, eventually hugging him around his neck.

"Is that so?" answered Grace with a smile. "Do any adult natives come here? Do they know about this?"

"They know, but stay away." The girl sat down in front of him and he started to braid the young girl's hair. There was an inch or so of new growth around her queue that needed to be tightened up. The other, older children began to do the same to each other. There appeared to be a mass organization to it; almost ritualistic. The Avatars stared in awe at the precision of it all. Small blue hands worked with accurate agility. One teenage boy came before Alex, turned to show his back and sat before him. "Queue," he said, lifting his braid. Alex smiled nervously and started to wind the boy's hair. Children came up to the other Avatars, apparently expecting the same.

"What is' name?" the boy asked Alex.

"Dr. Alex Foster," he said, fidgeting with the thick, strong strands. "You can call me Alex." He looked over at the other children, trying to emulate their patterns. He was slow, but was figuring it out.

"My name' Tsu'tey," said the boy proudly. "I' warrior!"

Sakura was approached by several children and they all began to work on her hair and queue, decorating it colorfully with beads and flowers. They were truly fascinated by her beauty. A few males began to hiss at each other, fighting to get their queue braided by her. The Avatar just blushed. "They're so adorable!" she said, as she sat both boys down and worked on them simultaneously. Amazed, Dr. Harper began to take pictures. "I'd say the Avatar program is a success, yes?"

"Oh, yes," said Grace. "This is incredible, doctor. Did they come to you on their own, or did you seek them out?"

"Yes," he replied. "This is basically a supply station for field observation. We've been exploring the surrounding area, surveying for potential new mining sites. We have one botanist here, as well. I suppose you could say this all started when we were out taking samples and stumbled upon a Na'vi mother and daughter. That was _Taw_ and her mama." The Avatars nodded, looking over at the girl who continued to smile. "They had been surrounded by a pack of viperwolves; _nantang_ as the Na'vi call them. _Taw_ had wandered too close to their den and they attacked. Her Mama fought hard, and was wounded. They were about to pounce on Taw when we showed up, firing our weapons. We managed to scare them off." He reached and ruffled the girl's hair. "We approached them; attending to her mama's wound. I think we saved both of their lives."

"The next day, we were out taking samples again when Taw approached us. She gave me this." The doctor held up an arm to show a bracelet around his bare left bicep. There were distinct markings along the leather-like band. "Basically, she was thanking us and began to try and talk to me. Of course, we couldn't understand each other, but she was persistent. You all know how stubborn _I_ can be, so we started meeting every day, here at this compound. Before long, she started bringing her friends. That's when we all built this room so we could all fit without bumping our heads." He gestured around the room. "And here we are. We have an incredible foundation of trust to build on, here. I was thinking… what if we formalize this?"

"How so?" asked Grace.

"Let's turn this into a school. I've hit a plateau here and won't be getting any further. We need to get organized." Suddenly, there was a shriek from Sakura. Everyone immediately turned to look. She was gasping loudly. While the humans had been talking, the children had moved on to a different ritual and had joined hands and connected their queues together. One of the males the administrator was braiding had taken it upon himself to link with her.

"What are they doing," asked Grace, uneasily.

"It is okay, Dr. Augustine," calmed Dr, Harper. "They do this every day. Honestly, I have no idea what is happening, but it appears to be harmless. I suspect they are praying, or maybe even sharing information."

"I don't like this," answered Grace when the young girl she was braiding looked up at her and presented her queue. "Join," she said. Grace reluctantly took the girl's braid and connected it to hers. Once the link was made, her jaw dropped open. "Oh, shit!" she exclaimed.

René and Alex jumped, looking over immediately at Grace, who was already gesturing to them to stay where they were, mouthing the words, _"__It__'__s __okay.__"_ Her expression was one of fascination and awe.

Just when Alex and René smiled at each other, the young Tsu'tey presented his braid to Alex. "Okay, I'll play along," he said, joining his braid. "What the hell?" he said with his goofy smile.

The ritual lasted about an hour. Everyone fell into a light slumber during the ritual and only began to wake up when the sound of AMP suits was heard outside. Dr. Harper took this as a cue to stop today's visit. He opened the door and began to shoo the kids away. "Nìwin!" he shouted. "Quickly!" All left immediately, except for Taw, and the children that had joined with the Avatars. They were awake, but still joined. Something amazing was happening. Dr. Harper began to worry about the AMPs outside. They had tolerated his little "daycare" as they called it, but he was certain it would go wrong one day. He didn't want to take a chance with the Avatars present. He became extremely worried as the ritual with the Avatars continued. Grace was the first to come out.

"Thank you!" said the girl who had joined with her. "I learn' very much from you. Going back to Hell' Gate? When 'you come again?"

Dr. Harper was stunned. "Incredible…"

"Yes, Sylwanin," smiled Grace. "Let's see... _Oe __kä __kelku._I am going home, but I will be back." The Avatar smiled widely and patted the girl on the shoulders. "Go on, now." She obeyed and ran out the door, giggling.

Sakura was the next to come out. Suddenly, she went wide eyed and smacked the young man who had bonded with her. Strikingly, they had ended up on top of each other. _"__Peu __kawng __hu __nga? __Stop!__"_ she cried and pushed the boy away, who was flushed into a shade of purple. He also had an obvious excitement beneath his loincloth. The administrator hissed at him. "You filthy little… Arg!"

"I' sorry!" he cried. He smiled lightly. "Will I see you again?" Sakura gave the slightest little smirk. Looking somewhat embarrassed, the boy ran out of the room.

"What happened, Sakura?" asked Grace. "Are you okay?"

She looked somewhat embarrassed herself. "Uhg... He' so filthy mind'… And it was so nice until he… Uhg! I let it go too far. You see, we were…"

"I get it, Administrator," Grace interrupted. She looked over to Dr. Harper. "Doctor, this bond allows the Na'vi to access each other's minds. When connected, we act as one body and can see everything through each other. I was looking at myself through the girl's eyes. It was truly amazing! I learned much of their language while we were connected. She also learned from me, as you just heard. However, I suspect the Na'vi also use this as a form expressing sexual desire. I noticed that all the pairings were unisex and innocent, save one. I think this particular Na'vi was sexually attracted to Sakura and that attraction flowed straight through the bond. There is an incredible amount of intimacy with this practice. This must be part of the way the Na'vi have sexual relations."

"Indeed," stated Dr. Harper. "It always seemed so innocent. I suspect that young man had no idea what he was getting himself into. Face it Sakura. You make an extremely beautiful Na'vi woman. I don't think he meant any harm, but many men will find you _very_ attractive. You may even be the material of some young man's fantasy."

"Yes, I am aware, Doctor. I can take care of myself." She smiled. "I just got a little surprise there, that's all. Think of it as having a simple kiss and getting a bit of unwanted tongue thrown in, ruining it."

Dr. Harper and Grace looked at each other and laughed, Sakura joining in a moment later. Suddenly, there was a hiss from Alex's direction.

Alex was looking at the young Tsu'tey, leaning in very closely. The boy had a defiant look on his face. Suddenly, they both scowled and separated violently. "_Peseng__ po?_ Where is he!" screamed Alex. "Where is Nawm and what are you doing here with the Omaticaya? … Answer me!"

"You try 'go where 'cannot!" smiled Tsu'tey aggressively. "My mind 'shut like 'vault. You cannot enter. You 'weak like Nawm. Girly-boy! I am Omaticaya now! We' strong!"

"Why are you shutting me out? Please! Just tell me where he is?"

"I have fun 'play with you," teased the boy. "You should come back. I tell you then. We make you strong, too!" He laughed and ran off to meet the others.

René, Sakura and Grace looked stunned. Sakura broke the silence. "What just happened, Alex?"

"That was Tsu'tey. He knows Nawm," said Alex, soberly. "Ever since I missed him that one day he was at the base, I have been wondering where he could be. I suspect he is still here, since Tsu'tey and Nawm are from the same clan. Apparently, they have joined the Omaticaya." He smiled. "It is okay. I have new hope now of seeing him again soon." He looked around the room. "Also, it appears our mission is already accomplished." He gestured for everyone to look about the room. Clumps of Na'vi hair were everywhere.

"That should last Max a good, long time," smiled Sakura.

* * *

Parker Selfridge presented a false smile for the press as he announced he was leaving for Pandora. He explained that the RDA efforts there were a huge success and that they would be expanding operations. He explained that the first shipment of unobtainium was on the way and RDA affiliated scientists around the world were eagerly anticipating its arrival for immediate development and testing. It would arrive in the next 5 years and new facilities were already being constructed to take advantage of it. He also announced that the Leonov ISV project had been re-instated with two others planned, once the new superconductor was successfully tested. RDA stock had shot through the roof and consumer confidence was starting to look up for the first time in a decade. Economists were praising the RDA for being the potential savior of the global financial system.

Waving like a politician, he left the podium and made his way to the motorcade that would take him to the Palo Alto Spaceport. A Valkyrie shuttle was ready and waiting. The moment he was out of view he cursed his handlers while climbing into the vehicle. He immediately activated the comm screen in the seatback. To his dismay, the comm was blocked from making outgoing connections.

"What the hell?" Parker sat back and crossed his arms. "This is bullshit!" As the car sped off, he pulled out his mobile comm. It would not activate – the power supply had been removed. He just tossed it to the floor. He struggled, but managed to keep his calm. He recalled the words of the chairman of the board and smiled to himself. "I can play your game. Just you wait." Looking out the window, he saw an advertisement for the Parker Selfridge Financial Success system, as if to mock him. The Morgan Investments logo was visible on the bottom right corner of the screen. He laughed cynically. It was going to be a long trip.

* * *

Max was speechless when Alex walked in with a box full of sample containers. "I think this will last you for a while!" he exclaimed, handing over the container. "But Max, do we have a story to tell you!"

Over dinner, Alex and Grace told Max about Dr. Harper's idea to start a school for the Na'vi to teach them English. It would be a fantastic way to get a better understanding of the natives. Using an Avatar, the school would become even more effective, especially with the ability to link.

Before they could continue, there was an alarm over the base-wide PA. "Intruder Alert! All personnel to Ready Status 1! Repeat… All personnel to Ready Status 1!"

"Come on!" said Alex. "Let's check it out." They ran over to the science lab where Max patched into the security feeds. Alex pointed at the image from camera 3. "Look!" In the dwindling twilight, a lone Na'vi was approaching the perimeter fence. Sakura gasped. It was the young man who had bonded with her. She immediately ran out of the room before anyone could stop her. Alex took off after her.

"The automated turrets are ready, Colonel." A soldier seated before a weapons console had the Na'vi in his cross-hairs. A red ENABLE pad was looming on the screen. "Awaiting your order, sir."

"Fire!"

"No! Stop!" shouted Sakura, who had just burst into the room. The young officer stayed his hand and looked back at Quaritch, who was eying Sakura menacingly.

"What are you _doing_, Administrator? We have hostiles!" The Na'vi had begun to climb the fence. "You see?" He pointed to the weapons console.

"Don't shoot. I will go out and talk to him."

"You're going to do _what?_" Quaritch fumed.

"I know him. I'll take care of this." She stood firm. "Stand down! That's an order."

"I never thought I'd be taking orders from a little girl like you…" The man sighed. "You heard the lady. Stand down. Go to Alert Level 2. Stay focused."

Sakura grabbed an exo-pack and made her way outside, pushing her way past various soldiers and civilians as she forced her way through. Looking up, she saw that the Na'vi had already started down. He had a satchel on his shoulder, but no weapons of any kind. Sakura ran right up to him. Once he hit the ground and turned around, he jumped back and put his hands up. "No danger!" he cried. "Safe!"

Sakura smiled and stared up at him quietly. The boy stared back and the expression on his face softened. He dropped to one knee and looked at the young woman more closely. "Sa-kuu-ra?"

The girl smiled brightly and giggled. She ran up to the boy and placed her arms around his neck, hugging tightly.

"But you' no longer Na'vi! What happen' to you?"

"Oh, Ton'ga," said Sakura. "What are you doing here? It is very dangerous for Na'vi to come here."

"Is Sa-kuu-ra no' happy 'see Ton'ga?"

She bowed shyly. "I'm quite happy to see you again. This is my real body." She let go and raised her arms, her short Kimono sleeves falling down. She laughed, Ton'ga joining her. "Come. I'll show you." She took the boy's hand and walked him over to the science building. Passers-by backed away in fear at the imposing Na'vi teenager in native garb. The boy was a full two heads taller than anyone else in the complex, save the Avatars. Giddily, she led him into the Avatar lab, where the three hybrid bodies lay at rest, occasionally twitching as if to prove they were still alive.

Ton'ga ran over to Sakura's Avatar and then looked back at the girl, confused. "I 'no understand. You' two places?"

"No, I have two bodies!" she answered. "Stay here! I'll be right back," She ran over to a comm panel. "Max!" The doctor acknowledged shortly afterward. "Start up my Avatar! I'm coming up!" She looked back over to Ton'ga. "Now, don't go anywhere!" She disappeared behind a door.

He nodded and picked up the blue hand of Sakura's Avatar. It was warm to his touch. He caressed the hand and kissed it. Suddenly, the hand squeezed back and large golden eyes were staring back at him. They looked into each other's eyes and she rose to meet him in a deep kiss, wrapping her arm around his neck to pull him tighter into her. They consumed each other, hungrily, gasping for air between kisses. Eventually, they both stood up. Tenderly, Ton'ga opened the satchel, pulling out some native clothing. It was exquisite craftsmanship and beautiful. She kissed him again. Together, they went back outside, smiling at each other. At their Administrator's order, the guards opened the outer gate and the lovers walked outside, disappearing into the forest.

Quaritch looked back to the room after having observed the whole thing on the monitors. "You' gotta be kiddin' me! You all seein' this?" Some of technicians and scientists looked down. "Yeah! Take a look at your administrator. She just broke protocol and let in her _boyfriend_. Hell, so much for not making contact with the natives… since it appears we are already _fraternizing_ with them!" He stomped out of the room. It was time to contact RDA headquarters.

* * *

The very next day, Alex and Grace visited Site No. 14, hanging a hand-written sign next to the front door: _"The Pandora Academy of Learning"_. Sakura had not come to breakfast with them this morning and was strangely absent now - her Avatar still resting in the science lab. They had been told she had "executive business" and would not be joining them today. Dr. Harper looked proud, taking lots of pictures with his HoloPad. The children were fascinated by the device and quickly learned to use it themselves. To everyone's surprise, three adult Na'vi emerged into the clearing. Before anyone could jump to conclusions, a very familiar voice rang out.

Alex's ears perked straight up. He immediately ran into the clearing, stopping just short of the visitors, panting loudly. Looking up at the Na'vi hunter with the familiar voice, there was a gentle smile that immediately went wide.

"Did ya' miss me?" he said. "You look very good in blue, my Alex."

Alex wrapped his arms around the taller man, startling the other members of the group. He purred loudly, nuzzling the chest. Tears began to well up in his eyes. "I thought I'd never see you again!"

"I will never loose you again," said Nawm, with seriousness in his eyes.

The others stepped back and smiled at the sight of the lost lovers reunited. Discreetly, they all made their way inside the building and sat on the bare ground inside. While Nawm and Alex made up for lost time, there was talk of a very important nature between two Na'vi leaders, Grace and Dr. Harper.

Eytukan proudly introduced the woman who had come with him as _Mo__'__at_, his mate and the clan's _Tsahìk_, or spiritual leader. He spoke in broken, but understandable English.

"Hello," said René. "It is nice to meet you both. Tell me, please. Where and how did you learn to speak our language?"

"Taw'tsawke is 'good teacher," answered the olo'eyktan. "Her desire 'strong and insist' she share' words with us. Her bond 'strong."

"Yes," continued Mo'at. "She 'very happy here. Learn much from hu-man. Our two daughter' learn as well."

"We both' very proud," said Eytukan. "Like 'make pact with hu-man clan." He looked closely at Grace, admiring the features of her Avatar body. "So… this is what you call "A-va-tar. You have 'other body?"

"Yes," answered the scientist. "My human body sleeps while I live in this one."

"Uniltìrantokx…" said Mo'at. "You are what we will call 'dream walker'. Very impressive."

"You can thank Nawm out there," said Grace. "Without him, this would not have been possible."

"Is that so?" Mo'at replied. She took about a more stern look. "What all has he taught you?" She turned to the leader and whispered something in her ear. He nodded and stood up.

"I take 'leave," he stated. "Mo'at 'stay with you. She wish' learn from you. In turn, she' teach you our way." He smiled and spread his arms in a gesture. "We wish' be friends."

"As do we," answered Grace. "Thank you for coming."

With that, the leader left them to return to his duties. Mo'at turned to Grace and put her hands on the Avatar's shoulders. "Now, we' share knowledge." She reached for her queue and presented it to Grace. "We call this Tsaheylu." Grace smiled nervously and placed her queue near Mo'at's, immediately making a connection. Dr. Harper turned away from his picture taking to talk to and observe the children.

"I really need an Avatar…" he thought.

* * *

Nawm took Alex's hand and they ran out into the forest together. Alex's heart was pounding as they navigated their way through the thick brush. Suddenly, Nawm stopped and chirped loudly, holding Alex tightly. "Do not be afraid," he comforted. Moments later, a mountain banshee landed before them. Alex was naturally afraid, but Nawm held him so tightly, he couldn't run away. "Come. We fly!" Before Alex could protest, Nawm had picked him up and placed him on the wild beast's shoulders, Nawm immediately hopping on behind him. With a sharp call, they took off to the sky.

Once Alex had faith he wasn't going to fall to his death, he began to enjoy the experience. They flew for a good hour before finally landing high in the branches of Hometree.

"Stay with me, my Alex. I will show you my new home." Nawm took the scientist's hand and guided him into the giant trunk and they made their way down. They walked out on to a branch lined with sleeping hammocks. _"__Ni__'__vi,__"_ as Nawm had called them. Other Na'vi stared intensely at the strange new visitor in his unusual clothing. Nawm walked Alex over to a section that appeared to belong to the hunter. Immediately, he began to remove various items from a hanging storage area. "Undress," said Nawm. "You can't wear that human stuff here. Besides, it's too hot for it anyway." Alex slowly started to take off the Avatar sized human clothing as Nawm starred intently.

"You naughty boy," said Alex with a smirk, but obliged.

Nawm took all the human clothes and tossed them away to the ground far below.

"Hey! I need those!" cried the scientist.

"Not anymore. You will wear these from now on, my Alex." He pointed to various items of clothing hanging on the rack. "But first..." From the bowl he had picked up, Nawm began to cover Alex's entire body with ceremonial paint. Soon, Alex was almost completely covered in the sweet smelling yellow plant extract. The hunter had particular fun applying the stuff to the Avatar's genitals.

"Nawm… What are you doing?"

"Your Avatar is going live with me. It will be safe and I will look after it. That way, we can stay together, since I am not allowed to visit you at Hell's Gate."

The scientist nodded. "Hmm… I believe this can work, but let me talk to Max."

"Later. Stay the day and through the night with me." Nawm took the smaller man's hands and kissed them gently.

Alex smiled sweetly. "Okay. I'd love that."

"Together, forever…" said Nawm tenderly, pressing his forehead to Alex's.

"Forever…" replied Alex. Blue lips sought each other, meeting with intense pressure. Nawm reached for Alex's queue. The scientist laughed. "Is this really the time for an English lesson?"

Nawm looked confused for a moment before realizing Alex's ignorance. "Children make Tsaheylu to learn. Adults do it to _mate_. We will belong to each other for _life_. This bond is _permanent_ and we will be imprinted upon each other's very souls. We will become one, physically and spiritually." He smiled lightly. "It is also intensely _erotic_."

Nawm guided Alex's naked body and himself into the ni'vi directly below. Once in place, he pulled over the organic cover to seal them in. Settled, he looked Alex into his eyes closely. "Are you ready for this? There will be no turning back."

Alex nodded and smiled nervously as Nawm brought the two braids close together and the tendrils emerged. Suddenly, Nawm pulled away and had a look of horror on his face.

"What's wrong, love?" asked Alex, confused. "I'm ready."

Nawm pointed up. There on the branch above was Tsu'tey, with an intense frown. The boy kicked the strands holding the ni'vi, rocking the hammock violently. Alex held on to Nawm in total fear the vessel would break loose and fall.

"You little brat!" screamed Nawm. "Go away!"

"Tutean si tutean kawng 'awsiteng!" The boy ran back and disappeared inside the trunk.

Nawm looked at Alex intensely. "Don't mind him. He's just a little prick that needs to grow up. He acts as if he has never seen two males together."

"_Male__ and __male __are __bad __together__…"_ Alex looked somber thinking about Tsu'tey's words. "I have seen his mind. It is very troubled and he is extremely lonely and unhappy."

Nawm looked confused. "You made Tsaheylu with Tsu'tey? Why?"

"Nawm… It wasn't like that. There was nothing sexual about it. In fact, it was awful."

"I see," said Nawm soberly. "So, the bond was rejected. Eywa does this sometimes. It is to prevent two Na'vi from making a life-long mistake. Think of it as a compatibility test. Pretty cool, isn't it?" He smiled goofily. "Come. We bond now."

Alex smiled again as Nawm finally made the connection. Closing his eyes, he felt the intense rush of emotion flow through the link in both directions. Part of his mind now occupied Nawm's body. He could feel Nawm's passion intensifying. He even felt his erection as strong as if it were his own. They kissed hotly, pressing their loins together, groaning. Nawm reached around and undid the tie holding up his loincloth. Exposed hot flesh made contact and they both exhaled loudly.

"Yes, my Alex… We are together now."

Their tails intertwined tightly, trying to get as much skin contact as possible. Sensing exactly what Nawm wanted through the Link, he turned Nawm on his side. Slowly, he began to kiss the back of the hunter's neck, caressing the flank and slipping a wet finger towards his opening. Nawm squirmed a bit, encouraging Alex to make his way inside. Alex was amazed at the thought that two different species, light-years away from each other would have similar sexual practices. Especially with same-sex couples. Nawm laughed at Alex, reading his thoughts.

"Yes… We are not so different. Human and Na'vi," thought Alex as he slowly entered Nawm and began to thrust lightly. The hunter groaned and began to buck, gently building up intensity. After a minute, he buried Alex's member into him, thrusting noisily. Both of them were panting loudly.

Together, they lasted a good 15 minutes. Finally finished, they maintained their neural bond and just lay together quietly. Alex stroked Nawm's hair and looked into his eyes.

"You are beautiful, you know that?" said Alex.

"And you are good in the sack. Max made you nice and… big," Nawm replied. "He must have known."

They laughed naughtily and climbed up onto the branch to get dressed. Nawm placed Alex in traditional hunter's attire. Together, they made their way to a nearby lake to bathe.

Life for the two lovers was the best it had ever been. Little did they know that it was the calm before the storm. And a big one was brewing back at Hell's Gate.

* * *

Sakura couldn't believe what she was hearing. The message was clear: she was being replaced as the Administrator of the outpost. The only reason she would be allowed to stay on the base at all was to continue her work in the Avatar program. Distraught, she ran to Max.

"Let me take 'Avatar!" she cried. "I go to 'forest! I 'no like it here anymore!" She threw her arms around the scientist who returned the hug warmly. Tears were running onto the shoulder of his white lab coat.

"Sakura, you know that will never work," pleaded Max. "I already told Alex the same thing. The Avatars need to come back here so we can run diagnostics on them. They are still a work in progress and we do not know what effect a long term link will have on both you and the Avatar body."

"You tell me yesterday thing' look good!" Sakura's sorrow started to turn to anger.

"Administrator, please," calmed Max. "Yes, things are going according to schedule. We expect to be able to allow long-term linking in the next few weeks. We just need to follow the effects more closely. Alex's unscheduled overnight stay with Nawm proved to be very promising, showing no ill effects. I see no reason why we won't meet our timeline."

She bowed her head. "I'm sorry, Max. I will follow your instructions. I really thought I was doing a good job."

"You _know_ why this happened," stated Max. "One word: Ton'ga".

Sakura seemed to almost go into a trance at the very mention of his name. They had been caught together out in the woods that night by an AMP patrol and brought back to the base. The boy was currently being held in the close quarters of the human-sized brig until they could figure out what to do with him. Quaritch was too uncomfortable that this native was familiar with the internals of the facility. Nawm and Tan Jala had followed the rules. This guy had broken protocol and the Colonel didn't trust him.

Sakura visited him every day, although not allowed to go in her Avatar. He looked sick in the filtered air. It was unknown what long-term exposure to human atmosphere would do to the natives so he was allowed to occasionally go out on the grounds, but had to stay within the perimeter. He began to act like a wild animal once outside, scowling at the human soldiers. Sakura was the only thing that would keep him in check.

Finally, after 7 days, Sakura had seen enough. She was going to get him out of there. That night, she made her way into the deserted Avatar lab and activated link unit number two, just as Max had taught her. She climbed into the bed and settled in. Once in her Avatar, she made her way to the airlock and entered her security code. The door opened with a loud clunk. She made her way inside the complex, cursing at the foul smelling filtered air. She stopped by her quarters and shed her Avatar clothing in favor of the garments Ton'ga had brought to her. Looking in the mirror, she looked like a Na'vi goddess.

Taking advantage of her appearance, she charmed the two guards standing outside the brig. Once she had them off guard, she knocked their heads together, sending them out cold. Taking their key cards and using codes she had looked up using her privileged access, she opened Ton'ga's cell and they made their escape. The biggest challenge would be the external gate. Ton'ga was one step ahead of her. They decided to avoid the main gate and went out the rear entrance of the main building. Quickly incapacitating the single guard posted there, they walked out into the yard. Ton'ga hesitated while staring at the perimeter fence – giant automatic gun turrets at the ready. Sakura patted the boy's arm. She had used her privilege to temporarily disable the guns. It wasn't likely anyone would notice before they got out.

Chirping loudly, Ton'ga called his ikran which landed smartly before them with a forceful whoosh of air. There was no chance they would not be noticed now and had to move quickly. Boarding the flying beast, they took to the air just as an air raid siren began to sound. Once they cleared the fence, the turrets came to life and fired a volley, but missed badly. They were home free. Or so they _thought__…_

Avoiding capture and with no sign of a pursuit, they landed at the base of the Omaticaya Hometree and made their way inside. It was late enough that most of the clan was fast asleep.

* * *

Quaritch shook his head as he walked into the science lab. By now, everyone was awake and checking out the chaos.

"Which one is hers?" he shouted to the room. Max and a handful of other scientists and technicians looked at each other. "I repeat. Which one is she _in_? Shut it down, _now!__"_

Max stepped forward. "She is in number two, but I must warn you. Breaking a link in progress is very dangerous. Please understand. The Avatar will just fall limp. It will not be able to catch itself."

"Doctor, that woman just aided in the escape of a known combatant from this facility's brig." The Colonel walked over to the unit's control panel and motioned for Max to come over. "Shut it down!"

Max hesitated, but obeyed. He manipulated the controls, trying to safely take Sakura out of the link.

"Hurry it up!" screamed Quaritch.

"Take it easy! I'm trying to avoid killing her!" cried Max. "There. The link is breaking down now." Sure enough, the scanner started to slow down, the link bed pulling away slowly and opening. Sakura opened her eyes and immediately panicked.

"No! No... No!" She tried to pull the lid back shut. "You have to send me back! Please!"

The marine grabbed the girl's arms. She struggled and punched the man in the jaw. He wobbled for a moment and smiled. "You got some spunk to ya', sis! Come on!" He lifted his fists, ready for combat. Max stepped between them.

"Stop it, now!" he shouted. "Administrator, please go with the Colonel." She dropped her arms and slowly walked over to Quaritch who immediately placed her in restraints. Don't worry. You will have a chance to explain your actions." In his heart, he knew that Sakura was in serious trouble.

Far away, at the Omaticaya Hometree, Ton'ga futilely tried to revive his beautiful Avatar companion. Not sure what to do, he carried her to Mo'at, waking her and Eytukan in the process. The olo'eyktan was furious and threatened suffering for interrupting his slumber. Mo'at calmed him down and met the boy outside the leader's sleeping chamber.

After looking over Sakura's Avatar, she concluded that it was an empty shell. There was no soul inside to awaken. She suggested that he put her in his ni'vi and pray to Eywa for her to come back to him. Obediently, he did just that – laying beside her and holding her tightly. She was still breathing and warm to the touch, but it was if she wasn't alive. He cried as he lay with her, praying for a safe return. He could only wonder what had taken her away. He swore that he would see her return to him, one way or another.

**End**_ of _**Chapter ****8**

* * *

To be continued…


	10. Chapter 9: A Change in Plans

Many thanks to the Avatar Wiki page for character names and historical events mentioned in this chapter. Enjoy! -YaoiBoy.

* * *

"Avatar" is the property of James Cameron and Twentieth Century Fox.  
I take no credit or monetary compensation for the fictional world referenced in this work.

* * *

**PRELUDE**: What is this Thing Called Eywa?

The name had come up many times during bonding sessions at the school. Dr. Harper was fascinated with the concept being described to him and wanted to understand it better. After much deliberation, he was granted his request to be provided with an Avatar. Max was already working on it, but four years would pass before he could finally use it. For now, he would just have to rely on the explanations provided by Dr. Augustine and the children.

Grace, with the benefit of her Avatar, had gotten to experience Eywa's presence first-hand one day when one of the children took her to an exotic looking white tree. Excitedly, the girl told Grace to bond with one the many willow-like strands hanging close to the ground. For the scientist, it was nothing short of a miracle. Joining her queue to the tree, she heard a sea of Na'vi voices sounding softly from directly inside her mind. The girl giggled when she saw the look on Grace's face. Suddenly, the girl gasped, grabbing the doctor's arm. Grace released her braid from the tree, looking concerned.

"Sylwanin, What is it?"

"We must leave! Follow me!" said the girl in a hushed whisper. "You must not be seen here!"

Before Grace could protest, they ran into the underbrush just as a Na'vi hunting party emerged into the clearing and began connecting to the tree, apparently to pray. One of them stopped short and began to look around carefully. Clearly, he sensed something was amuck.

"Sylwanin," whispered Grace. "What is this place?"

"We call this 'Utral Aymokriyä' or 'Tree of Voices'," she answered. "Here, we experience a direct connection to Eywa. We can listen to our ancestors here." She placed her hand on the doctor's arm. "I'm sorry for taking you away so suddenly. You see, this place is very sacred to the Na'vi people. Since you are not Omaticaya, your presence would not be welcome."

"Then why did you bring me there?" asked the doctor. "Please, don't misunderstand me. I am very grateful for what you have shown me... I _really_ am. But we need to be more careful." She smiled. "Just give me a little warning next time, okay?"

The girl nodded and smiled back. "Okay, I understand. I just want to show you everything!" Her ears perked up. "When are you coming to Hometree? Sempul invited you quite some time ago. You should come! I can take you there now!"

"I don't know," cautioned the doctor. "It's getting late."

"Please! You can stay with us tonight! Come experience our wonderful evening meal." She took Grace's hand, pleading with her, eyes beaming. Indeed, Eytukan had invited Grace to visit last week. "There will be fresh yerik on the fire! Not that strange stuff you eat! Good food!"

Grace finally caved. "Let me talk to my colleagues first," she answered, squeezing the girl's shoulder. "I admit that a home cooked meal sounds very good."

Having returned to the schoolhouse, Grace thought back to those amazing trees. She had a great desire to study how such an experience was even possible. She decided then and there she was going to find out.

* * *

**CHAPTER 9**: A Change in Plans

The next 6 years on Pandora proved to be prosperous for the human colony. The base expanded to over nine square kilometers. All the temporary buildings had been replaced with permanent, steel structures. In all effectiveness, Hell's Gate had become a small city to itself with plenty of room to grow. This city was under new management. Parker Selfridge was a new arrival, but he stepped into his role quickly and efficiently. On his first day, he had immediately sat down with all the current leaders. It was time to change a few things.

Unobtainium quotas would be doubled. He ordered execution of immediate plans to start a second mine. Scientists back on Earth had concluded that this little grey rock had the potential to save all mankind. Initial testing had proved results to be better than expected. Power generation facilities based on unobtainium repulsion were already under construction. The strong magnetic forces from the compound would be used to turn turbines to generate almost limitless electricity with near-zero waste products.

The Avatar Program was to be greatly expanded. He ordered everyone on the base to submit their DNA for possible Avatar creation. All Avatars would be ordered to report for mining duty.

Human reconnaissance would be expanded to more sites. This would facilitate locating a site for the new mine. Portable/Mobile habitat production would be tripled.

All personnel were to receive combat training. Security Operations ("SecOps") was to be doubled by year end. This meant recruiting more soldiers from Earth.

The school to teach the Na'vi English would be expanded. Clear communication and establishment of trust might allow recruitment of natives as mine workers. No other interaction with the natives would be tolerated.

Unbeknownst to the Operations Center at Hell's Gate, the Avatar Program had developed a complex relationship with multiple Na'vi clans, including the Omaticaya, Tipani and the Anurai. Dr. René Harper, finally in his Avatar, was spending extended time at the School for the Na'vi along with Grace Augustine. Together, they poured their souls into building relationships with the Na'vi people and their children. When they weren't teaching, they were studying the Pandoran plant life, trying to unlock the mystery of Eywa. Grace spent more time in the link than anyone had ever before, upwards of 16 hours a day. At one point, she asked Max if he could modify the link unit to provide an intravenous supplement system in order to nourish her human body in order that she could stay in longer. That request was flatly denied, but she still maintained extraordinarily long hours in her hybrid body.

Dr. Max Patel spent all of his time managing the progress of the expansion of the Avatar Program. He worked long into the night, processing all the human DNA now being collected, trying to find the best candidates for splicing. Thankfully, he had a seemingly inexhaustible supply of Na'vi hair samples to work with. Thanks to the school, a new case full of the thick, black strands arrived daily. To date, he had successfully created 12 Avatars, 10 of which were actively being driven out in the field. The remaining two were in the incubation stage.

While in his Avatar, Dr. Alex Foster now lived exclusively with Nawm and the Omaticaya clan. Tan Jala had long since returned to the Tipani clan, but he took their story back with him. All would learn of the strange visitors in their village made of metal. Alex spent his time learning everything there was to know about living among the People. He had become quite the hunter. Nawm was against it, but Alex wanted to try for Iknimaya, completing his journey towards becoming a member of the clan. Nawm was shocked by the relative ease Alex had displayed in taming and bonding with an ikran. He had completed the task on the very first try with the very first animal that had approached him. "Alex, you're amazing!" Nawm had shouted. Together, they eventually became the most successful hunting duo in the clan. Many new songs were being sung to honor them.

Former Administrator Sakura was assigned to Max. Her active participation in the Avatar Program was the only thing keeping her from being rotated back to Earth. She had been ordered by Selfridge to never enter the Omaticaya clan again. She had gone through a very painful goodbye with her Na'vi mate, Ton'ga. Reluctantly, after some deep coxing from Alex, the boy had brought Sakura's Avatar back to Hell's Gate, a place he was ordered never to return. Later, Sakura had learned from Alex that the young man had committed suicide, placing his own knife to his throat, unable to bear life without her. Taking one's own life was very rare among the Na'vi and it took all by surprise. Sakura had then tried to commit suicide herself, thinking that somehow, she might join him through Eywa. However, Max had resuscitated her and placed the young woman on a suicide watch, pending the results of a mental evaluation. The results less than promising, Sakura was limited to an effect house-arrest and was limited to only working in the lab with Max as his assistant. After a year, she had been deemed stable enough to drive her Avatar again. Max had put it in stasis, hoping that its driver would return. Sakura was allowed to wear the ornate, native garments Ton'ga had given her. Back in her Avatar, she was still extraordinarily beautiful, but sad. Nowadays, she only seemed to be happy outside in the garden, tending to the native flowers. The doctors and administration hoped that one day, she would be okay to go outside the compound again.

If things weren't bad enough already, Captain Sean Wallen had a plot all to himself. Coming from a criminal background on Earth, he surmised that artifacts from Pandora would be worth something to the right people. He already had a channel he could exploit to smuggle the items off the surface. His greedy actions would lead to an almost total breakdown of all relations between the Na'vi and humanity.

* * *

The reports coming back were catastrophic. The entire Anurai clan had been wiped out. To make matters worse, an entire platoon was dead, including one Avatar. Selfridge was furious.

"What the hell happened here!" the administrator yelled at Quaritch. He slammed the Holopad to his desk. "Those are _your_ men out there! I thought I made myself perfectly clear. Other than in the school, there will be _no contact_ with the natives. I've been putting my faith in you!"

The colonel closed the door behind him and sat on the metal folding chair before the Administrator's simple, metal desk. Looking around the room, the walls were decorated with various artifacts from back home, save one: a beautifully decorated wooden bow of unusually large size. The colonel smiled. "I think you know _exactly_ what's happening here. Sir, I must admire your taste in décor. Some of these items are pretty hard to come by." He pounded the desk, becoming serious in an instant. "I know you had one of my men smuggling native valuables. Do you think I'm blind? I have a job to protect this facility. Your failure to be discreet about this is _not_ helping me."

The administrator clasped his hands together. "I can assure you that the matter is being investigated. So far, I've learned that Dr. Grace Augustine met the savage responsible for the loss of your men. The neanderthal made a point to visit the schoolhouse. That's how he found his way here." He placed his hands flat on the desk. "This will _not_ come back to _me_. Moving such items is too risky. I can assure you: _I did **not** make this call!_ Your man acted on his own. As for what you are seeing on my walls here…" He gestured around the room. "Replicas. Did you really think the native shit was real? Come on! The scientists would have my head." He smiled with a short laugh. "Go ahead. Take a closer look."

Quaritch had a skeptical look in his eye as he stood and walked around the desk, removing the oversized bow from the holder on the wall. It was taller than he was. Looking closely along the handle, he found an engraving with a serial number and the words: _Made in China_. The colonel busted out in a hearty laugh.

"Okay, sir. I get you. Selfridge, you are a _real_ piece of work." He placed the bow back on its holder with a subtle wink. "I will look over your investigative report and discipline all persons with any knowledge of said incident." The colonel knew that the engraving had been added after-the-fact. He also knew which man had supplied the bow to the administrator.

"And I thank you for it," exclaimed the administrator. He brought his voice down. "I think we'll do just fine here. Just remember: We need to watch out for each other. Now, we all have our little extracurricular activities, yes? But, we need to have a tighter control on the men. We don't want this kind of attention. If we are smart about this… we will both do _very_ well."

"Roger that, but keep me in the loop, okay?" Satisfied with the administrators acknowledging nod, the marine left the office.

Selfridge exhaled loudly once the man was gone. It was a bit of an open secret that artifacts were being smuggled back to Hell's Gate. Some of the loot would contribute to Parker's own legal situation. He was certain that even Quaritch had his own bills to pay. They would have to work together. They might even learn to like each other.

* * *

News regarding other clans traveled slowly in the Na'vi circles. It would take some months before word arrived at the Omaticaya regarding the loss of the Anurai clan and the near destruction of the Li'ona clan.

"When did this happen?" Mo'at asked Grace. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"I'm sorry," apologized Grace. "Believe me. We do not condone the crimes that man committed."

"Why have your people come to our world?" interrupted Eytukan. "I suspect there is more to your presence here than simply studying our ways."

Grace had never told them about the unobtainium mine. A lump was now forming in her throat and she struggled to find the words. "I can assure you, our presence here is peaceful. The actions of that man do not represent the general nature of the humans here on Pandora."

The Na'vi leaders looked skeptical. Mo'at leaned over and whispered in her mate's ear for a moment. He nodded a moment later.

"Please allow me to share your mind," stated the Tsahik. "For Eywa will be the one to judge your people's moral character. We make Tsaheylu."

Grace had an expression of dread as Mo'at presented her braid expectantly.

"You don't believe me!" cried Grace. "I have been trying to build a relationship on trust. Now, you want to interrogate me? I'm sorry, but I won't submit to this."

In the doctor's heart, she knew that humanity's true reason for being there would be most unpleasant to the Na'vi people. She had dreaded this moment and had since avoided visiting the Omaticaya Hometree.

"I am sorry Doctor, but we must know the truth," said Mo'at solemnly. In the blink of an eye, she pricked Grace with one of her needles. Grace immediately had a look of terror on her face as the poison did its work.

"Mo'at, please! Don't judge us all by what you see…"

The doctor began to pant and lost consciousness a moment later, falling limp like a rag doll. Mo'at sighed. The Na'vi/human hybrid would have nothing to tell her; it was an empty shell.

Grace opened her eyes to the inside shell of a link bed. "Damn it!" she cried, opening the lid and waving for a technician to come over. Sakura answered her call, prancing over immediately. "Send me back, immediately!"

"I'm Sorry, Dr. Augustine," said the former administrator. "Your Avatar is offline. I can't connect. What happened?" Her look darkened as Grace struggled to lift herself up. "Are you okay? You don't look so good." The Asian girl lent her strength to help the doctor to sit upright.

"I'll be fine, Sakura. I'm just getting old. Mo'at just tried to extract information from me. She sedated me, but I guess she didn't realize that I would no longer… be in there." She wearily stood up and walked over to her science station, extracted a cigarette and lit it.

"Dr. Augustine! You can't do that in here!" the young woman cried.

Grace's stern look put the girl in her place. "Excuse me? I'm the boss here. I'll do as I please." Max walked over, frowning. Grace gave him 'the look'. "Don't you start, Max!"

"Grace…" Max looked worried. "Please, for your own sake. I'm begging you. Go to Medical and let them check you out. You are not well." Seeing Grace's attempt to brush him off, he took the woman by the shoulders. "Grace, look at me! Your body is wasting away! Come on... You need some down time." His manner softened as she finally gave him her attention. "You are spending 18 hours a day in the link. You don't eat; you barely sleep..."

"Max, I'm fine!" shouted the woman, anxiously pushing the younger man away. She immediately stopped herself when she noticed everyone staring. She dropped her head and sighed. "Really," she said in a whisper. "I feel fine."

Max sighed and shook his head. "Grace, you know better than this. Just one thing: If you start to crash while in the link, I'm pulling you out _immediately_. Do you understand me?"

The tall woman made like she was going to protest, but stopped herself. "Okay, Max." She smiled. "I guess I can be a little hard-headed. I'll head down to Medical after we complete today's outing. Let me know when my Avatar comes back online." With that, she walked towards the exit of the science lab, a slight limp to her step. She had resigned herself to get some sleep.

Max watched her as she left; a concerned look on his face. _"She's hiding something,"_ he thought. Deciding to be proactive, he made a quick call to the Medical center. Grace would never make it to her quarters.

* * *

Grace dismissed the doctor's recommendations immediately. "I can't be out for a week of bed rest. You must be out of your mind!"

"From one doctor to another," pleaded Dr. Proctor. "You need to listen to me." She was most annoyed when the biologist dismissed her with a wave of the hand. "Hey! I'm not kidding here. I'm ordering you to take some time off. _Now!_"

"You can't make me do anything," smiled Grace.

"I've already made the call. Max won't let you anywhere near a link bed until _I_ say it's okay." The doctor folded her husky, tan arms. "Got it?" Her demeanor was unmistakable. "I'm going to keep you here for a few days. Run a few tests..."

Graced sighed. "Right, doc." She looked directly into the doctor's eyes. With that, she stood up to stomp out of the room. The good doctor blocked her path.

"Just where do you think you're going?"

"To my quarters to get some sleep."

"You aren't hearing me." She grabbed Grace's arm and muscled her over to an observation room. Grace may have been the taller woman, but the husky doctor had mass on her side. "You can sleep in there. Do not come out until I say so."

Seeing she wasn't going to win this fight, Grace resigned, silently walking into the room and laying down on the bed, almost immediately drifting off to sleep. The doctor smiled slightly, shaking her head.

"_You always were the stubborn one…"_ thought Dr. Pam Proctor. From her console, she immediately began to run a battery of tests on Grace. _"Let's hope we don't have to ship you back home."_

* * *

An hour later, Alex and Nawm arrived, carrying Grace's Avatar. Max was immediately alarmed.

"What happened to her?" cried the doctor. "Take her outside, quickly!" Max put on an exo-pack and they took her out the science airlock to the Avatar cabin.

"Don't worry Max," said Alex as they lowered the lanky blue body onto one of the beds. "Mo'at just knocked her out with a sleeping potion. I don't think things went the way she expected." Nawm nodded in agreement.

After a quick examination, Max was satisfied. "Okay, I'll place the Avatar on standby."

"Why would you do that?" asked Alex. "Where is Grace?"

"Honestly, she isn't doing so well." Max inserted an I/V drip to feed the Avatar while its driver was away. One of the lab assistants would take it from there. "Honestly, we all better hope she comes to her senses. Her human body is wasting away. I've ordered a week of downtime for her. I'm really worried."

"I can see how the link might be addicting," smiled Alex. "I'd stay in this body 24/7 if Nawm didn't lecture me." He jabbed his lover in the side.

"I don't want you wasting away, My Alex. I love both your sexy bodies," said Nawm. Max just grinned while Alex hid his face from view for a moment. "Aww, I think someone is blushing!"

"Seriously, though," said Alex, coming back to his senses. "I fully understand the concern."

"Then maybe you two can talk some sense into her," said Max. "She is showing signs of muscle atrophy. Pretty soon, she will not even be able to walk."

At that moment, Col. Quaritch entered the cabin. He took on a hostile look the moment he saw Nawm. "What is he doing in here? Dr. Foster, get your fairy boyfriend out of here, _now!_"

"Yes sir! Right away, Sir!" mocked Alex.

"Damned faggots..." cursed Quaritch under his breath. "Dr. Patel, the Administrator needs to speak with you. When you get a moment, of course." With that he nodded, lingered on Nawm and Alex, and left the cabin.

"He needs to get laid," laughed Nawm.

"You've been hanging around with us humans too much!" Alex giggled and kissed Nawm affectionately. "Come on... let's get out of here before he calls the MPs."

* * *

Parker Selfridge frowned as he looked over the latest economic reports from Earth. On the surface, things looked to be going well. RDA stock had soared with the introduction of unobtainium. The re-tooling of the Avatar program was scrutinized, but sure enough, All 12 of the human/Na'vi hybrids were now working the mine, effectively doubling the output. Another 4 Avatar bodies were in incubation. It was the cost to benefit ratio that fueled the administrator's frown. Despite all this good news, they were going to lose money… _loads of it. _Parker's last report to the RDA Science Director had concluded they would be losing 1.3 million a _day_ if Avatar production continued.

The reason was simple: Cloning and reanimating alien life forms was very expensive. The 15 link beds sent to Pandora had cost approximately $980 million to produce, _per unit_. Chemicals for the creation of the amniotic fluid were the real expense, however. The sources were extremely controversial. It was a closely guarded secret that much bribery was being conducted to keep human rights organizations at bay. Quietly, human death-row inmates were being tapped for bodily fluids against their will while prison officials got their palms greased. Everyone back on Earth had a price… and the RDA had the money to pay it. Despite all this, Selfridge was told to scale back Avatar production until a method for producing the fluid could be developed on Pandora.

With new Avatar production halted, an extended effort was made to keep the existing bodies in prime physical condition. Part of the unused ground area of Hell's Gate was given to the Avatar program just for this purpose. There, everything to maintain an Avatar's physical and mental well being were presented, including a secure cabin for Avatar storage and rest that was located outside in the Pandoran air. The Avatar drivers found this most welcome.

Max was in the Administrator's office, trying to devise a plan to deal with their issue. "Dr. Patel, are you certain we can fabricate this fluid here on Pandora?" asked the Administrator.

"It is probably a matter of time," answered the doctor. "I am already testing various potential native life forms. However, I will warn you that I cannot guarantee success."

"Right..." Selfridge fiddled with his fingers for a moment. "Listen... We have to solve this. Otherwise, the show gets called off. No more big blue bodies."

"Right. I understand. I'm pretty confident I can figure this out."

"Alright then," smiled the administrator. "I like your confidence! We're really counting on you, Doctor. Make us proud. I'll let you back to it."

With that, Max nodded and left the room. Meanwhile, several specially marked containers of unobtainium ore were loaded onto the shuttle. Selfridge breathed a little easier knowing said containers would make it back to Earth. Their smuggling operation had begun.

* * *

Nawm cradled his lover in his arms while they slept. Alex's Avatar body was warm, but it was always empty and would never respond to his touch as they slept. He wished there was a way for them to always be together. Every day, Alex would awaken in his Na'vi body, just to leave again to work in the Unobtainium mine. They would have a morning meal together and off he would go; not to be seen again till nightfall. After two weeks of this, he decided to join Alex in his mining duties, just to be with him.

Selfridge was hesitant and suspicious, but decided to allow Nawm to work along side to Avatars. _"I have a bad feeling about this…"_ thought the administrator as he signed the permit allowing Nawm to work. Just outside their small office trailer, the unobtainium mine was visible, bustling with activity. "You need to cut your hair, pretty boy," he gawked from behind an exo-pack, staring at the Na'vi's long locks that hung past his shoulders.

"Don't hate me 'cause I'm beautiful!" teased Nawm, flailing his hair around. After Selfridge refused to smile, Nawm dropped his act. "No, seriously… I will tie it up."

"Okay then," said the man. "You are good to go. Thank you for signing on with us. If any of your friends want to come along, we would be more than happy to have them." He smiled greedily.

"I'm sure you would," laughed Nawm. "Nope. Not happening. You are lucky my people do not know what you are doing down there. Me... I'm just here to see my Alex."

"You know you have to _work_, right?"

"I _know_ how to work, thank you very much!" He flipped his hair confidently. "I will work circles around your dreamwalker minions."

The man smiled. "Where did you learn to act like that?" snickered Selfridge. "Seriously, you'd better keep that under control in the mine. I don't think the men will tolerate it."

"Naw, I got it under control," said the Na'vi. "I'll give you double the output of those losers."

"Okay, then!" Selfridge extended his hand, shaking Nawm's larger blue one strongly. "Welcome aboard! I believe Dr. Foster is waiting for you just outside."

"I know! I can't wait to get started and be with my Alex again!" He stood up and made his way to the door, ducking his way through the human sized opening. "Chow!"

The administrator grimaced. _"He won't last a day…"_

* * *

"Nawm, hon. Do you have _any idea_ what you are doing?"

Alex stared at his Na'vi lover as the young hunter tried to turn on his mining tool.

"Sure…" The Na'vi hunter grinned widely. "I'm here for _you_, my Alex." He eyed the hybrid body up and down. The curves on an Avatar were slightly more defined than a native and the hunter found it quite sexy.

Alex laughed. "Okay... Let me show you how this works." He took the laser cutter from Nawm and explained the controls. Nawm just nodded as Alex talked. The doctor became suspicious when he stated that the middle, red button would blow up the mine and Nawm continued to nod. "Nawm! Pay atten… Oh… Stop that!" Alex laughed as Nawm was tickling him with his tail. "Stop being naughty! I'm trying to teach you something!"

Nawm laughed. "Okay, my Alex. You have my _full_ attention." He smiled as he wrapped his tail around Alex's waist, pulling him closer. "Sorry, I couldn't hear you the first time. Explain it again, please."

Alex started again, but was having a hard time due to Nawm's hot breath on his neck. He was seriously getting turned on from it. That, plus the tail play was destroying his concentration. The doctor giggled when Nawm licked his ear. "Okay, okay… down boy!"

"Really… here?" Nawm began to get on his knees.

"Oh, my gods!" shouted Alex as he pulled Nawm back to his feet, laughing hysterically. "Come, now. Show me how to use the laser cutter."

"My laser cutter is right here, my Alex." He gestured to his loins, a bulge visible through the red work pants.

Alex cupped his hand over the bulge, working it a bit. "Yeah, I think you are about ready. I don't think I need a tool to cut rock right now, either." The doctor had quite the tent going and was visibly flushed, his stripes turning a darker violet. Looking around, there was no chance of them getting busy right then and there without being noticed. They were out in the open and many miners were within earshot. "We'll finish this later. Let's get this job done so they don't fire our asses!"

Nawm laughed. "Alright, my Alex. So… which button is it again?"

Alex placed his face in his palm and giggled.

* * *

Mo'at was angry and could wait no longer. Many days had gone by and she still had received no explanation for the tragedy of the Anurai clan. Together, which a small group of warriors, so decided she would find the answers herself. On a cool, clear morning, they mounted their ikrans, bound for Hell's Gate.

Very boldly, Mo'at landed her ikran right at the front gate, despite the two fully armed AMPs guarding the entrance. Her escort of four warriors landed right behind her. Alarm klaxons sounded loudly as they approached.

"Where is your leader?" she said authoritatively. "We must speak immediately."

"Step back!" shouted the AMP on Mo'at's left through its loudspeaker. The soldier cocked his weapon. "I will not warn you again!" Despite his authority, his voice cracked with fear.

The proud woman walked right up to the AMP driver and pushed the gun to the side. "You do not frighten me, hu-man." The other AMP driver was about to intervene, but the warriors had all drawn their bows. He stood down. Still holding the weapon aside, Mo'at leaned into the AMP's canopy to get a good look at the person inside. The lowly private, looking terrified, shut down the AMP and held up his arms.

"Okay! Okay!" cried the man, activating his comm. "I'll call someone here. Just… don't hurt me!"

Mo'at smiled at the man, barring teeth. "You do that… and I promise we will not harm you. Now, both of you… step out of those ma-chines. I want a better look at you both."

Reluctantly, both humans dawned exo-packs and opened their canopies. Seeing that there was no good way for the men to step to the ground, Mo'at lifted the men out one at a time and gently lowered them to the ground.

"Now," she said. "Take us to your leader." Not having much choice, they obeyed. Vehicles of all types were approaching their position, but they stopped short when they saw their men were compromised. "Stay back!" shouted Mo'at. "We are going inside."

* * *

Administrator Parker Selfridge wasn't sure what to say. Before him stood the matriarch of the Omaticaya clan, looking furious. Her four warriors looked fierce standing behind her. They had agreed to talk out in the garden, where the natives wouldn't have to breathe the foul air inside the human complex.

"Par-ker Sel-fish," misspoke the Na'vi leader. "That name does not give me confidence."

"Self-RIDGE", corrected the man. "Look, I don't know who you are, but you're the one that came barging in. You endangered the lives of my men. Sister, I don't have much confidence in you, either." He backed away as Mo'at growled at him. "Okay!" The man said with false enthusiasm, trying to mask his fear. "You got my attention! Now, what can I do for you?"

"There are many clans on this world," started the spiritual leader, "but Eywa keeps everything in balance." She eyed the administrator, expectantly.

"Yeah, I guess?" he replied, not sure what to say. "Look... How about some clarity here. I have no idea what you're talking about."

Mo'at looked away and groaned. After a moment, she stared back at the man, intensely. "The Anurai. Your people slaughtered them with those demon walking ma-chines. Explain."

The administrator held up his hands. "Ma'am, I'm sorry, but I still don't know what you are talking about. My men would never do something like that."

"You stu-pid little man!" Mo'at growled in frustration and took the man by the throat. "How is it you have no knowledge of what it is I speak?" The surrounding human soldiers armed their weapons, ready to take action. Simultaneously, the Na'vi warriors raised their weapons. The Na'vi leader held up her free hand. "Mawey! - Stop! I will release him." Reluctantly, she let the man go. His face was beet red as he panted for air. His exo-pack was damaged from Mo'at's grip. Everyone lowered their weapons. The Na'vi leader looked down at the man furiously, unaware of the cause of his trauma. "What is wrong with you?"

Max Patel burst onto the scene, running up to Selfridge while pushing Mo'at out of the way. He immediately removed the broken mask, replacing it with a spare. The administrator gasped, finally able to breathe again. "Mo'at, please calm down," pleaded the doctor, calmly. "You nearly killed him."

"What the hell is wrong with you!" screamed Selfridge, looking up at the Na'vi leader. "Couldn't you tell I was suffocating, you dumb monkey bitch!"

"Administrator!" screamed Max, shaking his head. There was an immediate murmuring from the spectators. Turning to Mo'at, he tried to calm her. "Please…"

Mo'at wasn't sure what the man meant, but she knew an insult when she heard one. She eyed the man with an evil grin. "This 'mon-key bitch' is waiting for an answer, pale-face!" Weapons were raised again.

Max stood up, waving his arms and trying to cool the situation. "Everyone, please calm down!"

"I will explain what happened," Parker finally said.

"Go on," said Mo'at after convincing her warriors to stand fast. "I am listening."

"We should all sit down. I'm going to break my neck looking up at you."

"Then break your neck," laughed Mo'at. "You puny little man."

The administrator was not amused. "Laugh it up, woman." He stood up. "Truth is, I didn't authorize what happened to that tribe. We had one guy go rogue on us. He… Captain Sean Wallen carried out an unauthorized mission. He was eventually executed by one of your own people."

In her human body, Grace Augustine stepped forward. "Parker, Captain Wallen was a murderer!"

"You are out of line, doctor!" shouted Quaritch.

"He killed everyone and looted the village," said Grace. "He deserved what he got. I talked to the Na'vi warrior who served that creep justice! I was told everything!"

"Get her out of here!" yelled Quaritch. Mo'at approached Grace and placed her arms on the doctor's shoulders. Quaritch backed off after a nasty stare from the Na'vi leader. No effort was made to remove the doctor.

"Please come back with me to Hometree," said the Na'vi leader to Grace. "Do not be afraid. I will not harm you."

"Mo'at, please understand. You will not like what you hear." Grace was solemn.

"I understand." She gestured to her escorts and turned back to the human delegation. "We will take leave of you now. Pray I return in a better mood."

Offering her hand to Grace, she walked back towards the ikrans, which were resting in a tree just outside the human compound. It was then that she realized that her escorts were not following. Turning back, she saw what has holding them up. A beautiful young Na'vi woman was working in the garden; the warriors apparently mesmerized by her aura. One of them had even approached her and had begun a conversation. Mo'at recognized Sakura immediately.

"Warriors," shouted Mo'at. "Come! We must go. The woman Sakura must not be bothered for she is mourning the loss of her mate." Indeed, the beautiful Avatar was still very sad, but managed to wave to Mo'at. She even managed to smile for the first time in weeks. She appeared to be finally coming around.

The Na'vi warriors said their goodbyes and joined their leader. In a matter of moments, they were mounted up and took to the sky, Grace riding with Mo'at. The next few hours would mark the beginning of the end of peaceful relations between the Na'vi and Humanity.

**End **_of_** Chapter 9**

* * *

To be concluded…


	11. Chapter 10: The Long Kiss Goodnight

This chapter will conclude this story. I will try and give you a thrilling ending.  
Thanks to everyone who took time to read and review.  
Enjoy, YaoiBoy

* * *

"Avatar" is the property of James Cameron and Twentieth Century Fox.  
I take no credit or monetary compensation for the fictional world referenced in this work.

* * *

**PRELUDE**: Where Am I?

Alex blinked his eyes helplessly. All around him, everything was a pale white in all directions with no visible horizon. Walking a few steps, there was no visual cue he was even moving. Waving his hand before his face, there was no breeze. There appeared to be no air around him, but he breathed easily.

"_Am I dead?"_ thought the scientist.

"You are very much alive, young Alex Foster."

The voice seemed to be coming directly from inside Alex's mind. It was pleasant sounding; warm like a mother coaxing its baby to sleep.

"I love you like my own, young visitor—you have a good heart. But it is not yet our time to become one with each other. I still have work for you to do. Now… Go back."

With a sudden jolt, Alex snapped awake. _"What just happened?"_ he thought. It was then that he noticed a dilemma: he was still in his Avatar. "That isn't possible!"

"What's wrong, my love?" asked Nawm, sleepily. "Go back to sleep…" He yawned, placing his arm around the Avatar's waist as he drifted back to sleep almost immediately.

Alex would have to ask Max some questions…

* * *

**CHAPTER 10**: The Long Kiss Goodnight – From Eywa with Love

From the back of her ikran, the Omaticaya spiritual leader looked down into the giant human mining site. Mammoth yellow machines and about a dozen blue Avatar bodies labored away, making the hole deeper with every passing moment. She frowned, squeezing Grace, who was riding in front of her. She was still in her human body, being banned from driving her Avatar.

"What is this… un-ob-tan-ium?" asked Mo'at. "Why is it your people defile the Great Mother's lands with this insane digging?"

"I can explain," said Dr. Augustine.

"Is this why your people came here? To put a wound in Eywa's side? You and your ma-chines do nothing but destroy!" She hissed, looking down at the mine with contempt. Suddenly, her expression softened. "I am sorry. I do not mean to place my anger with you. For, I believe you to be a good person."

"Mo'at, I'm sorry."

"You can explain to the elders. We fly for Hometree!"

* * *

Grace found herself standing in the middle of a circle of older Na'vi. One young warrior, Tsu'tey, stood beside her.

"Why are you hu-mans destroying Eywa's goodness?" called the olo'eyktan. "Speak!"

Standing up abruptly, Eytukan walked to the center of the circle and looked down at the tiny human woman in her breathing mask. She looked sad, but held his gaze and began to speak confidently in near perfect Na'vi.

"My world is dying," she said. "Human kind came here because our machines detected the presence of a substance that may save our world. We called it unobtanium: that gray rock that floats in certain places. Your 'thundering rocks' contain this substance, but much of it is in the ground. We don't mean any harm…"

"Enough," said Mo'at from the edge of the circle, gesturing for the doctor to stop. She hopped to her feet and joined her mate in the center of the circle. The other Na'vi looked at each other and began to murmur.

The Tsahik spoke loudly to Grace, making sure her voice would carry, thus silencing the chatter. "Many of you hu-mans have a sickness that cannot be cured. Some of your people have a good heart, but I sense contempt in your leaders. They do not respect the love of Eywa!" She knelt down to Grace, taking her chin in her large hand and looking into her dark human eyes. "I am sorry Grace, but we must insist that your people leave our world. We cannot allow you to defile it further."

"Let me talk to my leaders. There must be some agreement we can come to."

"No more talk!" shouted Eytukan. He picked up Grace by the neck—the human woman grasping his larger arm, crying for her life, her legs kicking wildly. Mo'at tried to stop him, but Eytukan gave her a threatening look and she backed down. Several hoots and cries came from the delegation surrounding them.

"No!" cried a young Na'vi hunter breaking through the line of elders. "Put her down, please! She is a good person!"

The olo'eyktan paused at the sight of the young Na'vi woman before him and put the doctor down, releasing her. "What do you know of this woman, my daughter?"

Sylwanin put her arms around the doctor, squeezing her tightly. "Are you okay, Grace?" The doctor couldn't speak, but lifted her arm, indicating she would be okay as she checked her exopack. Luckily, it wasn't seriously damaged. She adjusted the mask on her face and slowly began to stabilize. The Na'vi hunter smiled and hugged her again tightly.

"Grace? The same one?" asked the leader. He frowned, looking at the human's face—his own overcome with recall. "I do not understand. Why is she now human?"

"Please!" cried the daughter, her arm around the human, protecting her. "Don't hurt her! She is like a Sa'nok to us! She has been teaching us! We have shared Eywa's love together! She has a pure heart!" Another young female hunter joined them, also putting her arms around the doctor.

"How is this possible?" asked the leader, looking at Grace with a shock. "Human's cannot share Eywa's love."

"My love," said Mo'at softly, touching the leader's shoulder. "Grace is both Na'vi and Hu-man. She is a Dreamwalker. While her Na'vi body is at rest, she lives as a human. A-lex Fos-ter is the same. I do not understand the magic that makes this possible, but I can assure you. It is the same Grace we came to respect."

Eytukan bowed. "I am sorry, Grace. Please except my apology." He turned to the girls. "Sylwanin and Neytiri here will tend your wounds." He turned to the elders. "I have been hasty to pass judgment. I nearly took the life of a pure heart. Tomorrow I will speak to the human leader. This treachery against Eywa will end, but not like this. We will make peace."

* * *

Grace coughed as Sylwanin carried her from the ground level of Hometree to the open forest. "We will take you home, Grace. Are you okay to fly?" Neytiri walked beside her older sister, looking at the feeble human with concern.

"Bad idea…" mumbled the doctor. "Pa'li, please. Take me as far as the school. Then I will use a radio to call an airship to pick me up."

"Grace, you are not well," said Neytiri. "Let us take you all the way. You can use your ra-di-o to warn them of our arrival so they won't try to kill us."

Grace smiled. "You two have always been so smart," she said weakly.

Both the girls smiled. "Save your strength. We will take care of you, Sa'nok."

Mounting a Pa'li, Sylwanin and Neytiri galloped slowly towards the human settlement. The ride would take the remainder of the day, arriving near nightfall. Neytiri held the doctor in front of her while she sat in front of her older sister. Sylwanin had control of the beast through the bond. Grace fell asleep in the younger sister's arms.

Their first stop was the schoolhouse, where Grace picked up a spare radio. It was early evening so no class was in session. She also took a Na'vi sized neck mounted radio and gave it to Sylwanin. Putting it around the older Na'vi's neck and attaching the earpiece, she showed her how to use it—a simple press of the thumb to the talk button. The girl's eyes went wide at the sound of Grace's clear voice in her ear.

"That's amazing!" the girl cried. Neytiri asked for a radio, as well. After a moment of thought, Grace figured it couldn't hurt anything and pulled out another one. Neytiri immediately put it on and smiled.

"Be very careful with these," warned Grace. She coughed frailly, but held up her hand to ward the sisters from helping her. "On the main channel, the RDA… Humans… can hear everything you say into these. Use this button to change to a private channel. Remember, you must both be on the same channel to hear each other. If you need to separate, agree to a channel first." The doctor smiled. "I use private channel 171 if you ever need to talk to me. Just press the middle button and say the channel you want." Both the hunters did so successfully. Grace also gave Sylwanin an Avatar backpack full of supplies. Grace figured it might come in handy.

"Okay," said Sylwanin. "We should get going." Slowly, they all climbed back on the direhorse and continued their journey.

Just before nightfall, the human main gate was visible before them. As usual, it was heavily guarded. The Na'vi girls stayed in the brush for the moment as Grace activated her radio, using the private band reserved for scientists. To her delight, Max answered her call.

"Grace!" called the doctor. "It is wonderful to hear your voice. We feared the worst when Mo'at took you away."

"We are not out of the woods yet," answered Grace. "Please arrange to let us in."

"Us?" questioned Max. "Who is with you?"

"Two princesses of the Omaticaya. They wish to see to my recovery."

"We will have to keep this quiet. The brass isn't too keen with the natives, these days."

"I understand."

"There is a maintenance team returning in fifteen minutes. They will come in through the south gate. The defenses will be down for about 30 seconds to let them in. That will be your best chance."

"We'll take a look. Thanks, Max." She turned to the Na'vi hunters. "Okay girls, you two head on back. It is too dangerous.

Both girls looked defiant. Neytiri spoke first. "We will not leave you. Listen. My sister and I have an idea."

"_I have a bad feeling about this…"_ thought Grace.

* * *

At exactly 21:00 hours, a team of ten Avatars and four humans in a ground car approached the South Gate. Two Amp suits thumped over and checked the vehicle carefully.

"Sir, we have a discrepancy," called one Amp driver to the other. "My report says we should have been expecting _eight_ Avatars and _three_ humans."

"Look. Our shift ends in ten minutes. I'm hungry. There is no fuckin' way I'm going to get delayed because some keyboard jockey screwed up."

"Roger that."

After hesitating for a moment, the lead AMP driver waved the vehicle through and signaled opening the gate.

Once the vehicle was through and stopped, Sylwanin walked over to Dr. Harper and thanked him. "You just saved our 'butts,'" she laughed.

"Oh Sylwanin," laughed the doctor. "Is there nothing you can't do?"

"I am a strong Na'vi leader," she said proudly, beating her chest. "One day, I will be olo'eyktan!"

"My sister, we need to get Grace medical attention," reminded Neytiri. "Re-ne, where should we take her?"

"Come this way," he said as they all made their way inside the science building—Avatars through one door, humans through another. The princesses objected to being separated from Grace, but they were assured that they would be reunited with her once inside.

Safely inside the non-filtered section of the Science lab, the Avatars all sat down at a table and had their evening meal. Neytiri wrinkled her nose at the ill-prepared Pandoran foodstuffs. Sylwanin bumped her sister with her elbow, making her displeasure with the girl's attitude clear. _"Don't be rude,"_ she thought as she tugged at the uncomfortable Avatar clothing covering her body. She did her best to hide her displeasure as she consumed the meal placed before her.

After an hour, both princesses had come to enjoy the company of Avatars. They didn't get to use their English very much and found it good practice. Once they had all said their goodnights and left to the Avatar cabin to retire to their human bodies, Dr. Harper appeared in his human body.

"Greetings, young ladies," he said with a smile. The girls got immediately defensive. "You don't recognize one of your own teachers?"

Neytiri cocked her head. "Doc-tor Har-per?"

"Right you are, Neytiri!" The Na'vi relaxed. "Now, you two wanted to see to Grace, yes?" he asked.

"Can you take us to her?" asked Sylwanin.

"It will be a few minutes before the doctor is finished with her. They are currently running tests."

The girls became alarmed. "What do you mean by tests?" asked the younger one.

"Don't worry. She will be okay." Noticing the neck radios, he realized that the girls seemed to be somewhat receptive to human technology. "Come, let me show you around. I'll show you how all this works. He we can have two bodies. It is really quite fascinating." The girls looked at the equipment around the room with interest. They truly were very curious and both nodded. The doctor smiled. "Very good, then! Now, be warned. The air in the human area will smell strange to you. Don't be alarmed. The initial nausea… eh… discomfort will pass. You will need to come this way to see her."

The girls looked at each other. "For Grace," said Neytiri.

Entering the airlock, the girls resisted the urge to hold their breath as the stinky air entered the tiny room. For a moment, Neytiri began to hyperventilate, gasping for air. Dr. Harper patted her arm trying to assure her that it was okay to breathe. She calmed herself quickly.

Exiting the airlock, with the girls nearly having to duck through the hallways, the doctor took the Na'vi to Max, who greeted them enthusiastically.

"Max Pa-tel!" cried Sylwanin. "Grace has said many kind words about you. Thank you for all you have done for her and the Na'vi people."

"I've been told she will be out of medical in a few minutes. In the meantime, let me show you something." The man pointed the Na'vi over to the link room. "Come, I want you to know how the Avatar program works." The girls looked at him with confusion. "Avatar? Uh... I think you call them Dreamwalkers." Recognition immediately came to their faces.

Sylwanin was fascinated with the technology surrounding her, wanting to touch everything. Neytiri looked skeptical at first and kept her distance, but curiosity won her over and she became to examine the devices more closely. The older sister ran her hand along the link mechanism as Max opened the lid to the link bed for a driver just coming out. The driver's face was familiar to the girls.

"Sakura?" asked Sylwanin. She smiled. "Even as a human, she is still very beautiful. I can see why she captures the eye of some many Na'vi males." Sakura sat up with a small smile.

"You' too kind," she said. "But the only male I will ever have eyes for was Ton'ga." She seemed to be staring into space, longingly. After a moment, she hopped off the link bed, bowed to the Na'vi princesses and excused herself to her science station.

Sylwanin's gaze followed the woman closely. _"She really is lovely…"_ she thought. Her long black hair and tight clothing complemented her nicely. Sakura looked up from her monitor and caught the princess staring at her. She smiled back for a lingering moment and returned to her work.

Neytiri bumped her sister's arm. "My sister," she whispered. "You body betrays your thoughts."

"What do you mean…" The older girl then noticed that she was blushing into a reddish-purple crimson. She couldn't help but smile. "Well, the woman clearly has Eywa's blessing." She laughed curtly. Neytiri rolled her eyes.

"My sister, remember. She is grieving," called Neytiri. "Set your gaze upon someone else."

"Do not lecture me, my sister. I know what I am doing. You stay here and learn something from the little brown man." She smiled towards both of them and made her way over to Sakura's workstation.

"My apologies, Max," said Neytiri. "My sister is as bad as the men when it comes to beautiful women."

"I understand," answered Max calmly. "Here, let me show you this machine."

Max spent the next fifteen minutes showing Neytiri the different parts of the Psionic Link System used to control the Avatars. The Na'vi only had one question.

"What happens if they do not wake from their dream? Do they go to Eywa?" she asked.

"We really do not know, Miss Neytiri," answered Max, soberly. "I would think, yes. They would."

Eventually they made their way to Sakura's workstation where they found Sakura working away while Sylwanin looked over her shoulder. They were looking over the settings for Sakura's Avatar, which was currently in the cabin, resting. All the vital signs were normal. Suddenly, the Na'vi began to stroke the human girl's hair softly while whispering something in the woman's ear. Sakura laughed.

"No, my sister… Do not do this," said Neytiri in Na'vi. The older sister ignored her.

Neytiri rolled her eyes again. "Skxawng… There she goes, again."

"Excuse me, Sylwanin," interrupted Max. "It is time for us to see Dr. Augustine."

"Okay," answered the older sister. "Would you mind if Sakura joins us?"

"Not at all," answered Max. "Grace is a college to all of us. Now... This way, please."

Together, they all left the Link Room and headed to medical, ducking along the way. Sakura and Sylwanin were holding hands. The Na'vi females had begun to take the characteristic yellow tint to their skin from breathing the human atmosphere. Max looked concerned.

"Please let me know if you start to feel dizzy," said Max. "This air will not hurt you, but you may start to experience discomfort if you stay too long."

"Thank you, doctor," answered Neytiri. "I feel fine, as does my sister."

Grace had been moved back to her quarters. Max ran the chime. A moment later, the door opened for them. Grace weakly called everyone in. Neytiri ran over to her. Sylwanin joined her.

"Grace, what is wrong?" asked Neytiri. "Why are they running tests?"

"Don't worry, kid," she answered. "I'll be fine. My body is just a bit weak. I've been ordered to bed rest for a week. I'm told I have too much stress."

The Na'vi looked confused. Sakura filled in.

"It means she has worked herself too hard. Human bodies break down without proper rest. Same as Na'vi."

"I see," said Sylwanin. "Well, we will be here for as long as it takes. If you need anything, just let us know."

"Right now, I need to sleep," the biologist answered. "You two are starting to turn yellow. This air is bad for you and it is late. Why don't you two go over to the Avatar cabin and rest? Sakura can show you the way. I will see you in the morning."

"Okay, doctor," answered Sylwanin. "We will do that." She looked down at Sakura and smiled. "We will follow you, then."

* * *

The next morning, Neytiri found herself quite relaxed from her slumber on the human-made bed of soft grass. Looking around, about a dozen Avatar bodies were sleeping. There were six empty beds, including the one Sylwanin was sleeping on. Sakura's Avatar was not among the sleeping bodies. Neytiri smiled lightly. _"My sister will be in a good mood today."_ she thought. Grace's Avatar was sleeping soundly.

Walking over to the door, she discovered it was no simple task to open as it required a security code. Frustrated, she was about to use her comm. link when she heard rustling behind her. Turning, she saw a familiar Avatar stretching and sitting up. Grace smiled and walked over to Neytiri.

"Did you sleep well?" asked the doctor. "I know this is a strange place."

"To my surprise, I slept very well," the Na'vi answered. "I thought you had to rest."

"A link bed is a great place to rest my human body," answered Grace. "My mind stays very busy, however. So, I'm only allowed eight hours in my Avatar."

"I understand. Are we having school today?"

"You betcha! First off, we have fresh fruit in the Avatar garden. I'll pick a few things for breakfast and we will be on our way." She looked over the sleeping bodies. "Where is Sylwanin?"

Neytiri giggled. "I think she and Sakura are discovering Eywa's gifts."

The doctor tiled her head slightly at the cryptic remark. Eventually, she smiled as well. "Okay, I guess one day of playing hooky won't hurt. Perhaps they are touring the base together."

"It is more likely they are 'touring' each others bodies," said Neytiri, candidly.

"Excuse me?"

Neytiri laughed heartily. Grace smiled as the realization became clear.

* * *

"Do you like me?" asked Sylwanin, running her index finger along Sakura's belly, pausing to circle the belly button. "You are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen. Eywa has blessed you."

"I have never been with a woman before, like _this_," said Sakura shyly. "It was really nice. Yes… I like you very much. I am very much in need of _that feeling_ again."

"What feeling is that?" the princess asked quietly.

"The life-bond. It is so strong. I miss it so much…" A tear began to form in the Avatar's eye.

Sylwanin had heard enough. Her heart was racing as she looked closely at the Avatar's face and their lips touched. Her hand made its way to Sakura's breasts, squeezing the nipples, which were more pronounced than a typical Na'vi woman. They both moaned.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Sylwanin asked. "I have never felt the bond before, but have always wanted to try it."

"It is like nothing you have ever experienced," said the Avatar. "We will become one with each other and Eywa." She smiled. "It is also incredibly erotic."

Sylwanin giggled and reached around for her queue. "I am ready." Her fingers moved down to Sakura's pelvis and found their way inside. The opening tightened around her fingers, pulsing. Sakura's breathing was wild. The tuft of hair above the opening appeared to be particularly sensitive. Sakura would shudder every time the Na'vi's hand massaged it gently.

Panting, Sakura found her own queue set it on her tummy. She raised her head, mouth opening wide as Sylwanin was about to make the connection…

"My sister!" shouted Neytiri. "What are you doing! Stop this at once!"

Sylwanin hissed loudly. "Neytiri!" The older sister stood up, pacing. "My sister… in the name of Eywa… Why are you here? Please… Go away!"

Sakura squirmed invitingly. "What is going on?" she asked, looking over at the new arrival. Her eyes went wide and she grabbed her loincloth and chest piece, putting them back on. Sylwanin had no shame and stood up to her sister.

"My sister…" calmed Neytiri. "I'm sorry I interrupted you. I just came to say that Grace and I are leaving for school. You can join us, if you like. We will get to fly in one of their Sam-sons."

"Please go on without me," said Sylwanin, calming down. She smiled. "I'm… occupied."

Neytiri smiled. "Okay, my sister. May Eywa bless your union. I was wrong to interrupt. I will take leave of you now. Sakura, I wish you two the best."

"Thank you, sister. Eywa be with you."

"And also with you."

Neytiri laughed as she climbed down from the roof of the science building. She knew her sister too well, figuring that she would go for somewhere high up. The ladder on the side of the building had proven to be too tempting for her to resist.

Together with Grace, they made their way to the airfield. Neytiri swore at the uncomfortable Avatar clothes. She wondered how anyone could wear this stuff. Her native clothing was stuffed in the backpack she was carrying and she vowed to change to it once they got to the schoolhouse. They walked up to a noisy flying machine with the numbers "16" on the side. A young human woman and two men were waiting for them. Grace waved with a smile.

"Morning Trudy," greeted the Doctor. "We are 'plus one' today. Are you ready to depart?"

"Ma'am, we are all clear. _My Baby_ is always ready. Hop on in!"

Neytiri looked at the machine with skepticism, but climbed in to the cargo area with Grace. The two door gunners looked at Neytiri and whistled.

"Damn, you fine!" said one Corporal. "Can I crawl in that link bed with you?"

"Knock it off, jerkwads!" shouted Trudy from the cockpit over the comms. "We're bouncin'!"

"Aye, aye!"

With that, she throttled up the engines and they took to the sky. Neytiri grabbed Grace's arm, at first for she really didn't trust that the machine was flight worthy.

"What will stop a predator from making a meal out of us?" asked the Na'vi.

"That is what these guys are for," answered Grace. "They will shoot anything that gets too close."

Neytiri took a close look at the human weapons. They seemed inferior to her. She closed her eyes and prayed to Eywa for their safe arrival. Grace smiled and put her arm around the girl, comforting her.

* * *

The mood completely blown, Sakura and Sylwanin made their way back inside the base to the Avatar area of the science building. Sakura began to teach the Na'vi how to use the computers. At first, the princess thought it was some type of magic, but the Avatar assured her it was just a tool created by humans. They sat close to each other. Sakura had her arm around the younger Na'vi's waist.

Sylwanin was fascinated with the device and they went through the different screens Sakura had access to. Eventually, they found the video feeds of various parts of the base and exterior operations. Sylwanin's fascination started to wan once she discovered the images from the new bulldozers. She watched as they ransacked everything in their path, indiscriminately. The rear view from one of the machines revealed that the land behind it had been leveled. Nothing was left; totally cleared away.

"What is this?" cried the Na'vi. "Is this actually happening?"

Sakura looked at the Na'vi princess and took her hand. "Yes, it is. They are clearing a path to a new site for unobtanium exploration."

The Na'vi had tears in her eyes. "They're doing what? I don't understand."

"They are looking for more of those gray rocks," she answered. "They are quite valuable back on our world."

"Our world?" Sylwanin was is tears as she continued to watch the monitor. Flipping to the image of another machine, her expression changed. "No…. no! This must stop. Now!"

"What's wrong?" asked Sakura.

"Make the machine stop!" screamed the Na'vi.

"I don't understand…"

The Na'vi pointed at the screen. "There! Look!" She pointed so hard at the screen, it almost fell over. "Utral Aymokriyä… Those trees are sacred to the Na'vi people. This machine is heading right for them! How do we stop it?"

"We can't."

"What do you mean, can't!" cried the girl. "There must be something we can do!"

"They are controlled remotely in the command tower," said Sakura, soothingly. "We can't get up there."

Sylwanin stood up. Furiously, she kicked the computer screen. It slammed against the wall and fell to the floor, cracking with a flurry of sparks before shutting off, dead. Sakura backed away, frightened.

"Come with me," said the hunter, holding out her hand. "We are going to stop this madness." Not sure how to react, Sakura nodded and took the Na'vi's hand. Together, they ran out into the garden where Sylwanin whistled loudly. Not a minute later, her ikran appeared. The automatic sentry guns came alive, trying to target the fast moving creature, but they were not fast enough. They missed badly. Patrolling AMP drivers were stomping in their direction. Landing in the garden with a roar, Sylwanin and Sakura boarded the bright red ikran. With a war cry, they were airborne, surrounded by gunfire that was no match for the aerial dexterity of the of the mountain banshee. They were clear within moments.

Sylwanin laughed heartily. "Their weapons are useless against us. Together, we will destroy those terrible machines." Sylwanin held on tightly to Sakura as they flew. Little did the Na'vi notice the Avatar's tears. Sakura had thought about the consequences of breaking the link, but now that they were airborne, it was too dangerous.

Before long, they were circling the Omaticaya Hometree. The Na'vi hunter repeatedly let out a war cry. In minutes, she was joined by four mounted warriors.

"Follow me!" she shouted. "For Eywa!"

Together, the squadron of Na'vi fighters made for the sacred grounds on which several Trees of Voices had stood for thousands of years. After a short flight, the glittering white trees were below them. Not far away, the bulldozers were approaching. In another thirty minutes, they would be upon the site. The machines were surrounded by an escort of AMP suits and ground personnel.

With a war cry, the assault began; arrows were fired against the machines. They bounced off the metal armor like pebbles against a pillar of stone. The ground troops and AMPs opened fire, immediately taking down one of the warriors and his mount. The Na'vi dive-bombed head-first right to the ground, taking an AMP with him. The machine caught fire and burned furiously. The driver, having no chance to escape, was burned alive; the man cried in agony, flailing his arms as the fire took him to Eywa.

Seeing the ineffectiveness of their attack, the remaining warriors regrouped and climbed high, out of range of the human counter-attack. Together, they landed in the same clearing around the Tree of Voices Sylwanin had taken Grace to—the same one she had snuck the doctor onto to give her a taste of Eywa. They had run away when a Na'vi hunting party approached. These were very different circumstances. This time, no one was running away. Using the nectar of nearby plants, the Na'vi warriors painted themselves up, ready for battle.

Now that they were on the ground, Sakura tried to break the link to her Avatar. But she was so terrified that she couldn't relax. Her pulse was racing too fast. To make matters worse, in her rush to bed Sylwanin, she had activated her link unsupervised, so no one would be watching her vitals; no one would be there to pull her out if things got bad. She closed her eyes and said a prayer to Eywa, just as Ton'ga had taught her.

The war party went over their strategy: They would attack again, from the air and the ground, simultaneously. Sylwanin sent Tsu'tey to collect as many _rumut_ tops as he could carry. The other warriors were sent to find a _txumtsa'wll_ plant and bring it back. Sylwanin now turned to Sakura, who was sitting before the tree, praying.

"My warriors bring more powerful weapons. Now, tell me, my love. Where is the heart? How do we kill these metal beasts?" She stroked the beautiful Avatar's cheek, which was stained from tears. "Please, do not fret. I will protect you. No harm will come to you, okay?"

Sakura nodded slowly, without opening her eyes. She knew she was trembling. Slowly, she let out. "The camera system. Break the cameras and they won't be able to see where they are going."

"Your words are alien to me, my love," said Sylwanin. "What is a camera."

"Eyes…" cried Sakura. "Destroy its eyes. They are on the top, near the front."

The Na'vi hugged the Avatar tightly and kissed her gently. "Stay here and continue to pray for Eywa's love." I will return!"

Tsu'tey had just returned with two branches from a puffball tree, their hydrogen balls oversized and very dangerous. He handled them _very_ gingerly.

"Excellent!" shouted Sylwanin. "We are going blind the beast. Take those to the lower branches of a tree in the monster's path. Make sure it passes under them. The beast's eyes are on top, near the front."

"I remember," said Tsu'tey. "I will go now! Eywa be with you!" He walked into the machines path, slowly and carefully climbing up into the canopy to get into position. It would be another ten minutes before the convoy passed beneath him. He would have to make a hasty escape once he let the branches go.

A few minutes later, the two remaining warriors could be spotted in the forest carrying a Baja Tickler. It was a large specimen, and they were slowly navigating it through the foliage to avoid breaking it.

"Place it there, in the machine's path," called Sylwanin. "When the humans go to clear it, shoot the top of it with an arrow, opening it. It will be a spectacular sight!" The warriors hooted in response and walked the pod out into the path of the approaching 'dozer.

The trap set, the warriors went into hiding, waiting for humans to arrive. The noise of the machines grew louder with every passing minute. Finally, with the loud crash of a fallen tree, the giant yellow bulldozer passed under Tsu'tey position. Seeing the target, the Na'vi warrior released his payload and jumped to a neighboring tree and swung a vine to safety. The branches fell slowly towards their target, no one noticing them until it was too late. One of them landed behind the multi-camera mount and exploded with a brilliant flash of light and a distinctive sound that was unmistakable. No serious damage was done. The convoy stopped just as the second branch landed right in front of the camera mount. The soldiers looked up just as it seemed to bounce harmlessly. A moment later, it exploded, taking the camera mount with it. The array was completely blown off.

The human ground crews began to split up, looking for the enemy. A group that proceeded forward of the bulldozer encountered the tickler plant. A precision arrow pieced the neck of the plant, blowing the top off. A plume of fire shot from neck and engulfed the human soldiers, killing five of them. Then the plant exploded sending fiery projectiles and flammable liquid in all directions. Sylwanin looked on with delight as several of the projectiles and much of the liquid landed on the bulldozer. The machine began to burn out of control. No personnel remained on the scene to extinguish the blaze. They were all out looking for the culprits.

Sylwanin suddenly panicked when she realized they were heading right for the clearing where Sakura was praying. In a hasty move, she told her remaining warriors to follow her and retrieve the Avatar. Tsu'tey, who was circling above on his ikran created a diversion by diving onto the site just as the humans arrived. Half the party of ten human solders, including the remaining AMP went after the mounted Na'vi. The other five marched on. One of them caught site of Sylwanin who was dragging Sakura behind her.

"There they are! Go, go, go!" shouted one of the soldiers and the humans began to run after them. A few took stance and opened fire. Hearing that they were in danger, the Na'vi began to run evasively, slowing them down. The two remaining Na'vi warriors were gunned down and killed. Sylwanin's heart was pounding as she ran with Sakura in tow.

"They sacrificed themselves to save us!" yelled the princess as they ran. Sakura was so afraid, she couldn't speak. She just ran blindly with Sylwanin, praying that everything would be okay. They were approaching a clearing. It was the schoolhouse.

Grace stopped her lesson when she heard weapons fire. The children began to murmur and cry at the loud popping noises that were unfamiliar to them. A snapping sound was heard in the room with them. Red blood began to flow as a stray bullet pierced a child's hand. The boy cried in terror.

"Everyone, down! Now!" screamed Grace.

Neytiri looked at her teacher, terrified. "What is happening?" she cried. The weapons fire was getting louder. Looking up, Grace saw Sylwanin and Sakura running towards the door, apparently trying to get some cover. Entering the clearing, they became vulnerable.

"NO!" screamed Grace. Sylwanin threw Sakura through the entrance way as the human weapon riddled the princess' torso with armor piecing, explosive rounds. The projectiles went right through her body and into the schoolhouse. The children started screaming as Sylwanin fell to her knees in the doorway, grasping at her chest. She looked over to Sakura and began to reach out for her. Another volley of weapons fire connected with her skull. She fell instantly, dead. Her eyes remained open, looking in Sakura's direction as red blood began to stain the wooden floorboards. Sakura screamed and ran to the Princess.

"Sakura, NO!" cried Grace, but it was too late. The soldiers had arrived at the door and unloaded into the Avatar, yelling loudly as they targeted their weapon upon the helpless hybrid. The children screamed.

"Everyone, out! NOW!" screamed Grace. "GO!" Not sure what to do, she held up her hands as the soldiers stormed into the room. The children had started filing out of the back entrance just as the human soldiers entered.

"Get down, NOW!" screamed the first solider in. The command was directed at Grace, who was helplessly staring at Sakura who had fallen to her knees and then on top of Sylwanin. More blood began to flow.

"You butchers!" screamed Grace. "What have you done?"

"Get down, NOW or I will shoot you dead! Do you understand me?" screamed the soldier again.

Reluctantly, she kneeled down and put her face to the floor as the soldiers placed her in restraints. Everyone was shouting. She thought she heard someone say to let the children go. One soldier was talking on her comm. It seemed a bulldozer was badly damaged by a Na'vi war party. She looked at Sylwanin and Sakura, seeing their painted faces. The doctor finally began to weep. Soon, there was the sound of tiltrotors. Everything went white for a moment. Suddenly, she was back in her link bed; the lid opened violently. Quaritch was screaming at her. She didn't even hear him. Two burly soldiers lifted her up and out of the link bed and carried her down the hall. Her vision was blurred with tears. _"Sylwanin… Sakura… what happened?"_

Back in the Link Room, Quaritch watched silently as Max and Pam tried to resuscitate Sakura's human body. The woman's beautiful body was contorted and looked as if it had been struck by lightning. The delicate sensor array covering her body was torn to pieces. She was discovered when an alarm klaxon sounded from her link unit and there was a thumping sound from inside. As Sakura had suspected, no one was monitoring her link. She had died with her Avatar, apparently from severe shock. Pam finally gave up attempts to bring her back after ten minutes of pumping, defibrillating and cursing. Max said a prayer for her soul, wherever it may be. Perhaps, now she was with Eywa.

* * *

The order was swift. The Avatar program was to be shut down immediately, pending an investigation. Selfridge was sent up to the Leonov ISV to conduct a superluminal report back to Earth. Heads were going to roll. All the science staff was confined to quarters until a clear picture could be put together. Quaritch was put in charge, placing the entire facility under lockdown.

Nawm was completely confused. He was told to leave the mine, immediately. "Go home!" yelled the foreman. Meanwhile, Alex, along with all the other Avatars, had suddenly collapsed, as if someone had just yanked the life aware from them. He held Alex in a panic, crying for answers. He was repeatedly told to leave the mine. When he tried to take Alex's Avatar with him, a gun was pointed at him and he was told to "Leave him." Furious, he walked to the edge of the clearing, called his ikran and made for Hometree. Someone had to know what was happening.

All human operations were put on standby as the investigation began. All Avatars were collected, brought back to Hell's Gate and placed in stasis. The mine was shut down and clear-cutting ground to a halt. Everyone would be questioned, especially the scientists with the Avatar program, since Sakura was implicated as one of the instigators.

The next day, a contingent of Omaticaya leaders, warriors and elders made their way to the entrance of the human colony. They were let in immediately, as it was a planned visit. Mo'at, Eytukan, Neytiri and Tsu'tey were to participate in the investigations. Selfridge, having just returned from the ISV, would preside over the meeting. Events would take place in the Avatar garden.

An autopsy had confirmed that Sakura and Sylwanin were killed by weapons fire. Of course, no one was surprised—there were eye witnesses. A Na'vi ritual to commit Sylwanin's remains was conducted with all present. Mo'at was howling with grief at the loss of her daughter. Eytukan was stone-faced. The humans present said nothing until Neytiri finished her prayer to Eywa. The body would be taken back to Hometree and be buried beneath it. The remains of Sakura's Avatar were sent to the science lab for study. Sakura's human body was placed in the morgue, frozen for her eventual return to Earth.

Now, it was time for business. All Na'vi were seated in a semi-circular pattern on the grassy field of the garden. The humans were opposite and standing. Selfridge walked to the center and started with an opening statement that was as dry as the best corporate lawyer on Earth could deliver. He bantered on for over twenty minutes without stopping. Neytiri and Tsu'tey took turns translating for those who did not understand English.

"In conclusion," continued the administrator. "Let the record state that we have eye witness testimony placing the deceased at the scene of the crime. My men felt they were in danger and acted appropriately."

Mo'at stood and walked to the center of the circle, staring down at the puny little human man. After a moment, she nodded and turned to face the humans.

"This evil must end now. Your men were cowardly. They attacked unarmed young ones trying to flee. They were defending our lands. Your ma-chines were approaching a Tree of Voices—A sacred site to the Na'vi people. It was about to be destroyed. We could not allow this. Why do you people defy Eywa's will? Eywa loves all… and you try to destroy her." She sighed.

Eytukan rose and walked to the middle of the circle. He placed his arm around his mate and faced the humans. His eyes met a defiant Col. Quaritch and they locked gazes for a moment, neither breaking. There was no fear displayed from either man.

"What is wrong?" asked Mo'at. "Everyone is waiting."

The two men nodded curtly before the Na'vi leader began to speak, Mo'at translating. "The Omaticaya are a peaceful people. We respect all life around us, even hu-mans. We do not want bloodshed. Your people are trespassing on Eywa's world. If you continue to defy her, she will punish you and your clan. We will not be there to help you." He turned to the Na'vi. "It is a sad day for all of us. Never again shall we feel this pain. The humans must leave this place and never return." He turned back to the humans, who began to murmur nervously. "We give you three days. You must go. All of you."

Hearing the translation, Selfridge waved his finger, with a smug expression. "Oh, I don't think so." He looked up at Mo'at before addressing the crowd. "Listen, folks. We are here for the long term." Quaritch walked to the center. Mo'at hissed lightly at him.

"You know what?" the colonel said loudly. "I think it is YOU that need to leave." He pointed directly to the Na'vi conglomerate. "We have been more than hospitable to your tribe. Hell, I'd say we've been down right generous!" He looked at Mo'at. "No, sister. It is YOU who will be leaving." He waved to the AMPs that were standing guard at the perimeter. They approached with heavy footfalls and drew their weapons. "I think we have heard enough, here. It is time for our 'guests' to leave."

"What is the meaning of this!" shouted Alex, rising to his feet. Max, Grace and several other scientists joined him. "This is outrageous!" He looked over to the Na'vi side and spotted Nawm, who nodded encouragingly. Alex addressed both sides. "We have to work this out together. We are all civilized people. Now… put those guns down and let's talk about this."

Selfridge seemed to agree and whispered something in Quaritch's ear. The marine frowned and waved his men to stand down. They did so immediately, shutting down the AMPs' noisy, ceramic engines, but stayed close.

"Okay, Mr. Negotiator," said Selfridge sarcastically. "Let's talk. You start."

Alex waved over to Nawm in a gesture to come and join him. Nawm, shyly stood up and walked to the center, joining the other leaders. He crouched down to Alex who kissed him lightly on the lips. This generated a few cat calls from both sides. "Thank you, love," said the doctor. "I need all the support I can get." He turned to the human side. "I think we can work this out. I suggest this: A simple truce. We can set some physical boundaries. We find a natural barrier that cannot be misinterpreted. Human, nor Na'vi, shall ever cross this line unless it is agreed upon by both sides." Nawm leaned over and whispered in Alex's ear. "Yes, thank you, Nawm. There is a river between the human colony and the Na'vi Hometree. I suggest we designate that to be our natural border. We humans vow to never cross. Na'vi kind shall do the same. We will leave each other alone."

Mo'at and Eytukan leaned in close to each other, contemplating Alex's proposal. Selfridge and several human leaders did the same. A moment later, Mo'at looked at Alex and nodded.

"We find this acceptable," she said. "But understand this. Any hu-man who shows his face on our lands will be shot and killed on site. There will not be any warning."

"Likewise," replied Quaritch. "We see one blue body cross the line… it's lights-out."

"You have three days to retrieve any ma-chines current on our lands. After said time, we will destroy them."

"Right," said Quaritch. "Well, I guess we better get to it!" He waved to the AMP drivers. Shortly after, they powered up their suits and readied their weapons. "Time for the unwelcomes to go home! Move out!"

All six AMP drivers lined up as Quaritch made his way to his own AMP. The Na'vi delegation was on its feet, taking the hint that it was time to leave. They began to murmur noisily as they started to make their way to the gate. Alex looked at Nawm with concern. The Na'vi waved for the doctor to come with him. Alex ran over to him without hesitation. The hunter took his hand and together they made for the south gate of the colony.

"Whoa slumdog… just where do you think _you're_ going?" sounded a voice through a metallic speaker. Alex turned to see Quaritch thumping towards him in his AMP. He came to a stop before the lovers. "Doctor… Last time I checked, you were still _human_, or have you been in that monkey suit so long you've forgotten how to stand on two legs?" Nawm hissed at him, taking an aggressive stance. Quaritch raised his weapon. "Go on. Try it!" he said invitingly. "Make it nice and easy for me."

"Nawm, He isn't worth it!" cried Alex, pulling the Na'vi's arm. "Let's just get out of here, okay." He turned back to Quaritch angrily. "You're an _asshole!_"

"You wan'na go with your boyfriend? Fine!" yelled the colonel. "Let's see how long you last out there. You'll be dead in a week."

Nawm looked down at the little brown man with which he had found love. He started to cry lightly. He released the doctor's hand and turned away.

"Nawm?" asked Alex. "Don't you give up on me!"

"He's right, my Alex," stuttered Nawm. "You can't survive out here as a human without food from the colony."

The doctor's head fell. He knew Nawm was correct. "At least I will be with you,"

"My love, I am not going to stand there and watch you die!" He turned back to Quaritch. "Let me stay here with my Alex. I beg of you. Please!"

The marine simply pointed to the south gate and tapped his weapon. "Not a chance." He pointed the giant gun at Nawm. "I'm not going to warn you again. Leave... Now!" When Nawm lingered on Alex for a moment, the marine fired his weapon into the air, causing shrieks and screams from the departing crowd. Everyone picked up their pace.

"Go, my love," said Alex. "I will find a way to return to you. I promise." They hugged one last time and kissed each other, hard.

Releasing him, Nawm joined the line of departing Na'vi who were mounting Pa'li and calling their ikrans. _"Yes, I will see you again,"_ he thought.

* * *

Alex and Max stood together looking over a science workstation in the link room. It had been two weeks since the Na'vi left the human camp. There had been no contact of any kind. Alex had tried to reach Nawm on the transmitter he had left with him, but there was never a response.

"Max," asked Alex. "Did you ever find an explanation as to why I had that nightmare in my Avatar?"

The Avatar specialist had looked over the logs of Alex's link session that night, trying to find an answer. Since the Avatar program was on hold, he suddenly had a lot more time.

"I finally located the specific moment," Max responded. "Now, here is the strange part. Your Avatar was offline. Your human brain was showing no activity. You were registering dead. It had to be a glitch of some kind."

"But I was still in my Avatar," cried Alex. "I was aware of my surroundings. Someone was even talking to me."

"Who?" asked Max.

"I have no idea. Like I said, it was a dream. It could have been my mind playing tricks. But I definitely felt awake."

Max began to stroke his beard. "The Link Unit only projects your consciousness to the Avatar. You don't actually reside inside the Avatar's mind. The link should have broken the moment the Avatar lost contact with the Link Unit."

"I know. That's Avatar Program 101." Alex looked up from the screen. "Max… I'm beginning to think something, or _someone…_ held me in there. Are you _certain_ consciousness doesn't transfer? Not even _part_ of it?"

"Well, there is a brain in there," thought Max out loud. "I suppose it could hold a mind, but that isn't compatible with the method we are using. We are simply sending electrical impulses into the cerebral cortex. The lobes of the Avatar brain get activated with the patterns of your human brain waves here via the two-way psionic transceiver embedded in the Avatar brain. If the source signal… the driver… is taken away, the Avatar will just revert to its resting state. End of story."

"Nothing residual could have lingered in there while the connection was broken?"

"Well, there would be a moment of activity in the Avatar brain after disconnection, but you would not have been aware of it. It would have been more of a reflex action."

Alex thought long and hard for a while. Max gave him a puzzled look. "Dr. Foster, I know that look. What are you up to?"

"Can you bring my Avatar off ice?"

"Sure, but not for too long. Selfridge would go ballistic." Max couldn't help his fascination and curiosity. "What do you have in mind?"

"I want to see if we can simulate what happened that night," said Alex excitedly. "I suspect there may be a way to transfer my mind to the Avatar without the link unit—at least for a short time."

Max looked concerned. "This could be very dangerous, Alex. We need to put some safeguards in place."

"Okay, doctor." Alex smiled. "Just like old times, isn't it?"

Max smiled back. "Yeah… It's nice to be experimenting again." He pointed towards the cryo chamber. "Come on. Help me get your Avatar out of the cold room."

* * *

"Why isn't this working?" cried Alex, sitting up and slamming his hands on the edge of the link bed. He had immediately come back every time the connection was forced closed. "We are missing something."

Max laughed. "Maybe it was Eywa… Look, I'm up for any ideas at this point. Maybe if we mess with the phase variance a bit more we can…"

"Wait… say that again?" interrupted Alex.

"Yes. The phase variance. We could try adjusting…"

"No, no…" cried Alex. "You said Eywa. What did you mean?"

"Alex, you must be joking," said Max. "We are still scientists, here. I was only ranting a bit. I wasn't serious."

"Maybe you should be." Alex got that look again. Max was immediately suspicious. "I think it is time to go to church, Na'vi style."

"No, Alex!" cried Max. "Not going to happen. Don't even _think_ about it!"

"Link me back up," smiled Alex. "I'm going outside."

"If Quaritch finds out, you might meet Eywa _without_ my help," laughed Max.

Alex took one last look at his Avatar body down in the observation room. _"If this goes badly, I might be getting to know myself a lot better,"_ he thought. Max started up the sequence again as Alex laid down and pulled the lid closed.

* * *

Alex had been pleasantly surprised to see that all his security access codes were still valid. Having waited until a duty shift change, he slipped out through the emergency exit on the south gate. He cleverly disabled the alarm on the door by putting it in maintenance mode. Someone would eventually pick up on his little trick, so he moved fast the moment the door was opened, closing it behind him. It was 2AM, so he figured there was a chance no one was paying very close attention up in the control center. AMP patrols were light.

Having gotten away cleanly, he placed the his backpack over his shoulders and made his way through the forest, remembering his Na'vi training as a hunter. His ikran was long gone. The bond was so weak now that even if he did find his old pal, he would have to break and tame the beast all over again. Alex decided a wild pa'li was a better choice. He found one at a regular watering hole.

After a long, hard ride, Alex arrived at the beautiful white willow tree that Grace had told him about. The strands glowed brightly in contrast to the pale light from the bioluminescent foliage. Checking the area to be sure no one was watching, he approached the tree and immediately connected his queue to it. Almost instantly, the voices began to fill his mind. He began to search… she had to be there!

After a good hour attached to the tree, he heard her—the voice from his dream. Her tone was soothing and clear as a bell. All other voices subsided.

"Young Alex Foster," she said. "Why do you so desire to find me so soon? You are still so full of wonderful life. It is not yet your time."

"Eywa?" asked the Avatar. "Are you the one we all call Eywa?"

"My children may call me by any name they wish. My love is for all to share."

"Can you help me?"

"My love is for all to share…"

"Help…"

"My love is for all to share…"

"I'm…" The doctor fell to the ground, unconscious.

When Alex next woke, he was no longer at the Tree of Voices. It was now first-light and he was in a large, circular canyon. Surrounding him were similarly long, willow-like strands. He tried to sit up, but he couldn't move; his body was somehow attached to the ground. Turning his head, he discovered he was alone. _"How long have I been in the link?"_ thought Alex. He relaxed his mind, trying to break the bond. He was greeted by a great white space. The same he saw in his dream.

Walking about, there was the same lack of sense he was moving at all. There was no visual reference; everything was just pure white in all directions.

"Do you love me, Alex Foster?" sounded the voice.

"Eywa?" asked the Avatar. "Where am I?"

"You are with me. I wish to understand who you are. Allow me to enter your mind."

Once again, Alex blanked out. Opening his eyes, he was again laying on the ground next to the beautiful white tree. He was no longer alone. Mo'at was starting down at him with intense interest.

"Mo'at…" said Alex weakly. "I don't know what happened. I don't know how I got here."

"Shhh…." calmed Mo'at. "We found you at a Tree of Voices. Do not worry. I am not angry with you. Something wonderful is happening." She stood up and gestured towards the giant white tree. "This place has been dormant for many songs. Last night, I had a vision. In my dreams. I saw this place, the _Tree of Souls_, alive again. Alex Foster… You have a direct connection to Eywa of a strength that no one has ever had before. We brought you here immediately. Tell me… what have you seen?"

"White…" suddenly he passed out again, waking inside the white void. "Mo'at!" he cried. There was no answer.

"I have a task for you, young Alex Foster. It is very important. Do this for me and I will grant your request to live as one of the people."

"Bless you, Eywa!" cried Alex. "You can do this?"

"Will you help me?" asked the voice.

"Of course," answered Alex. "Anything!"

"Even if it takes what life you have left?"

Alex hesitated. "Will I get to spend my remaining life with Nawm? Then yes!"

"You beautiful young creature…"

Before his eyes, a column of light appeared. A few seconds later, the light dissolved into the most beautiful being he had ever laid eyes upon. The life form was Na'vi in appearance, but there were a few differences. Her skin color was closer to his own—light brown. Her hair was dark brown and decorated with many of the wild flowers that grew on Pandora. She wore no clothing of any kind. The woman walked towards Alex and she placed her four fingered hands on his shoulders.

"Is this how you imagined me?" she asked with a smile. "I give you this image in order to put your mind at rest. Please do not fear me… for I love all that is good."

"How can _I_ help someone like _you?_" asked the doctor, dumbfounded.

"Your people have chosen not to accept my love," said the creature. "I do not understand."

"Eywa… They cannot see, for they are blind with greed. They know nothing of your love." Alex dared to place his hands upon Eywa's shoulders. Holding each other, they stared into each others' eyes. She smiled and leaned in closely. There, she kissed him lightly on the lips."

"You are a beautiful person, Alex Foster," she said. "Your heart is pure. Your love is equally pure. I have been asleep for a very long time, young Alex. Your pure love has awakened me. I am forever grateful."

Alex was confused, but did not question the great mother. "Tell me how I can help you."

"Bond with me. Our knowledge will become one. I will share with you all of my love." She then presented her queue, which Alex accepted, placing the two braids together. Eywa smiled as the bond took effect. Alex smiled as a wealth of information like the flowing from a cornucopia rushed into him. At the same time, Eywa was taking knowledge from him. One moment, they were walking the streets of Earth together. Next they were in the RDA laboratories, perfecting Psionic Link Technology. Soon, they were on the ISV, traveling to Pandora, both in cryostasis. Lastly, they walked off the shuttle together and explored the current incarnation of Hell's Gate.

At the same time, Eywa's existence passed through Alex's mind. He saw Pandora forming from its accretion disk… watched the atmosphere form… watched an ice age… he witnessed several millennia of evolution before finally getting to his arrival at the Tree of Voices. It all happened in a matter of moments. At that point, the bond was broken. They released their arms from each other. She smiled as she stepped away, beginning to fade into nothingness.

"Thank you, Alex Foster. Go now and spread my love in whatever way you see fit."

Alex felt truly humbled. "I will."

"Now… it is time for you to return. You shall become a spiritual leader among the People. Teach them well."

"I will do as you ask, but what about me?" he asked. "How can I permanently become Na'vi?"

"Search your thoughts, for you already know all that you need." She smiled one last time while vanishing into a pillar of light. "Alex Foster is love…"

And she was gone.

Alex relaxed his mind and returned to the link bed. Excitedly, he opened the lid. Max was there, monitoring his vitals. The doctor's eyes went wide.

"Alex!" he cried. "I thought I had lost you! Your Avatar has been offline for four hours, ten minutes and fifteen seconds. It just came back online."

"Wow... Max, you aren't going to believe this…"

* * *

Over the next few hours, Alex had bonding sessions with Mo'at at the Tree of Souls, passing on all that Eywa had taught him. She absorbed the knowledge like a sponge. Her joy was unmistakable—there were tears in her large, golden eyes. "Eywa has blessed you!"

"Yes, she has," smiled Alex, reaching up to caress the matriarch's face. "She really does love all of us." His expression went serious. "Why would anyone do harm to her? We humans have done her a great disservice."

Mo'at smiled. "You have seen the love of Eywa, Alex Foster." She reached down to Alex's Avatar, still entangled in the roots and grasses around the mighty tree. She caressed his face lightly. "I will help you with your desire to be one of the People."

"Thank you, Mo'at. I will bring my human body here. Together, I believe we can learn to do what needs to be done. Once the transfer is complete, I will live amongst you. Nawm and I will travel to the other clans, telling them about Eywa's return to us!"

"Yes!" cried Mo'at. "Tell me Alex, what do I need to do?"

"My human body needs to be here. It needs to be connected to Eywa."

"Is that possible?"

Alex smiled. "Search what we have learned from the All Mother. "You will find the answer there."

Looking up into the branches of the tree, it was clearly coming to life. White blossoms had begun to appear—some of them fell to the ground, bouncing in the air and eventually catching a draft to be carried away.

"I see," said Mo'at. "I will wait for you here."

"Mo'at… Humans, nor anyone else that knows not of Eywa's love, must ever come to this place. For, they will exploit it."

"Agreed," she said.

With that, Alex returned to the Link Chamber.

* * *

"Alex, I can't cover this up much longer," said Max. "Once the normal day cycle is in full tilt, Operations is going to notice the power drain and send someone down here. I say we have about two hours."

The enlightened doctor thought up a plan. "Max, I need to leave here… in _this_ body." He looked sad. "Max… I may never see you again. I am about to permanently become one of the People."

"You mean you figured it out?" cried Max. "How to transfer permanently?"

"Yes, Max. However, it is beyond our current level of science to perform on our own. Eywa has given me the knowledge to pull it off, but we need her help." He hopped down from the link bed. "I won't need this place anymore."

"So she really exists, then... Fascinating…" He looked at Alex for a moment. "I know who will help us," smiled Max. He activated a comm. screen.

Trudy Chacon answered the call. "What's goin' on, Max? You're up _awfully_ early! You need a ride, brother?"

"Yes, Captain," said Max as professionally as he could muster. "We left some equipment at site 26 near the Hallelujah Mountains. I've been ordered to arrange a pickup within the hour."

"You got it, Max. I'll get the bird ready. Trudy, out." The screen went dark.

Max looked over at Alex. "Are you sure about this? You will never be allowed back here again. Will you at least stay in contact?"

"Nawm still has his transmitter. We can use that."

"Alright. Let's go, then."

* * *

Trudy eyed the men suspiciously as they made their way to her Samson tilt-rotor helicopter. You guys are traveling awfully light. Anything I should know?"

"No issues, Captain," said Max. "Just a routine drop-off and pickup."

"Okay. Let's bounce!" Her gunners acknowledged and climbed into the cargo area. Trudy climbed into the cockpit and pressurized it. Once the two doctors came aboard and were sitting behind her, she gave the ship some power and they lifted off. Given clearance, she took the standard flight path out of the base and towards the floating mountains.

As they crossed into the flux vortex, Alex got on the comm. "After you drop Max at site 26, we need to take a little detour. I need you to take me 20 kilometers west."

"What are you guys up to? We don't have anything out there," shouted Trudy. "Are you running away, or something?"

"Captain, it is better that you don't know," said Alex. "Trudy, I'll be fine. Don't worry."

"What are you talkin' about, doctor!" shouted Trudy. "I'm responsible for both of you!"

"We will stay in contact the entire time," said Max. "You will be first to know if we run into trouble."

"Alright, but you guys owe me big-time!"

* * *

Alex arrived at the Tree of Souls and looked wearily down into the canyon. The climb would not be easy in a Na'vi body, let alone a human one.

"Mo'at!" he yelled, waving his arms. "I need you!"

She stood up and waved back, making her way up. Alex's Avatar was still wrapped up in the tree's roots. In a few minutes, she met up with the human and helped him climb down. Reaching the bottom, she picked him up and carried him up the base of the tree to where his Avatar lay.

"Place me right beside my Na'vi form. Eywa will grab hold of me."

"Yes, _Txan karyu ne fya eywa_," said the spiritual leader. "You will be known as the _Great Teacher to the Way of Eywa_. There will be many songs to remember you."

Alex smiled. "Provided this works, of course."

Mo'at stopped smiling. "What do you mean? Do you think this will not be successful?"

He stroked her cheek with his tiny brown hand. "There is a chance this could fail, but I am confident things will go well." Suddenly, there was a squawk from above. Looking up, there was a mounted ikran coming in for a landing. Alex smiled widely when he recognized the color patterns.

"Nawm!" he cried. "How did you find me?"

"I followed your Samson," answered Nawm. "Those things are pretty noisy, you know." He smiled. "What are you doing here? Has something happened? The sacred tree looks different. Yes… it's _blooming!_" Several of the blooms had dropped more spriteful seedlings bouncing in the wind. Some had found their way to Alex's Avatar body. They glowed softly against the blue skin. The hunter looked over to Mo'at. "Has Eywa returned to us?"

"Yes, my child," she answered. "Thanks to your beloved. He sought her out from inside her realm. She responded and passed her wisdom on to us."

Nawm looked back at Alex in awe. "Is there nothing you _can't_ do? You are fulfilling a prophecy we have passed along for generations." He leaned down and hugged Alex tightly.

"Yes…" said Mo'at. "The song that tells us of a stranger that would come to summon Eywa's return to the People. He has done just that."

"Hey!" said Alex. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. This little stunt could go very badly. Now, we need to concentrate. Nawm, my love. It is good you are here. Your presence will increase the likelihood of success." The lovers smiled at each other. Alex went serious. "Now, join hands and make the bond with the roots of the tree." Mo'at and Nawm did so obediently. "Now, fill your minds with pleasant thoughts. Perhaps songs of the harvest. Songs of great joy! Celebrate Eywa's love!"

"Yes!" cried Mo'at. "It is a great day, indeed. Let us sing of the All Mother's return!"

Over the next hour, they sang songs and danced over the two bodies of Alex Foster. More Na'vi people began to arrive as the ritual continued. Word had gotten out that the mysterious sacred tree had shown new signs of life. Seeing the festivities, they joined hands and participated in the dance, with Mo'at's encouragement. The very ground began to glow around them, pulsing with energy to their song. Alex closed his eyes. He searched carefully for the voice he called Eywa. Soon he passed into the familiar white world of Eywa's realm. Only this time, he was human.

The mother of Pandora appeared before him in her Na'vi form, flowing with energy. She appeared to fly through the void like the wind. Alex looked up in awe at the beautiful alien towering over him.

"Follow me, Alex Foster…" she said seductively. "I will show you the way." She turned and ran away from him, giggling like a little girl.

Alex ran furiously, trying to keep up with the exotic, spritely creature. Lose her and he might be doomed to live within this realm forever. "Follow me!" she shouted; her voice getting weaker as the human fell behind.

"EYWA!" screamed Alex, losing all sight of the goddess. "Damn it!" he cursed. "I guess I'm on my own." Eywa could be heard laughing far away in the background before the sound became inaudible. The human furled his brow in frustration. Suddenly, fear came over him.

He was alone…

Alex walked around aimlessly looking for a clue how to return back and into his Avatar. Out of desperation, he called for Nawm. To his surprise, he got a weak answer.

"Nawm! Is that you?" cried Alex.

"Yes, my Alex," answered the Na'vi hunter. "Try and find me. Follow my voice, if you can. There are many hundred Na'vi people here now, cheering you on."

"Wow…" said Alex. "How did they find out?"

"As I said… your flying machines gather a lot of attention." Nawm smirked. "When you came in this direction, all parties were curious. There is the prophecy, you know."

"Ah, yes… of course. Sure…"

"Alex, my love. It has come true!" He looked around. "The Na'vi people believe in you, my love. There is more than just Omaticaya here. There are at least three clans. They know what is happening and are coming from all over the region. More arrive every minute. Pretty soon, the canyon will be full of people fascinated with your story. You can't let them down. Come back to me! Follow my voice!"

Mo'at waved her arms, encouraging more new arrivals to join in the ritual. In droves, they connected their queues to the roots of the tree, their energy pulsing increasingly through them as each Na'vi connected. The ground began to shake with each pulse of energy. The tree became brighter as the power levels increased.

Inside Eywa's realm, things began to change for Alex. The white void began to reshape itself. Corridors not dissimilar to Hell's Gate now appeared before him. He stopped to take a detailed look around. On one wall was a HoloScreen. Could it be that easy? He figured his mind was playing tricks on him, but he thought he may as well give it a shot.

Activating the screen, he was greeted by an image of the creature he knew as Eywa dressed in Avatar garb, wearing a headset.

"Greetings, Alex Foster," she said. "You now have two minutes to find your way out. At that time, I will claim you as part of me forever… one minute forty-five…" Her voice was sounding over the "PA" system of the complex.

"Shit…" he cursed. Trying to adjust the controls to bring up a comm. interface had failed. He had hoped he might try and send a signal to Nawm's comm. unit. The Na'vi wore it at all times and he might be able to track it. Failing that, he looked around for additional clues. Eywa smiled at him through the screen. You now have one minute, thirty seconds." She sounded like a damned overly-friendly operator commenting while you were on hold.

"Eywa, please," pleaded Alex. "Help me."

The goddess just smiled more brightly. "You have everything you need, my Alex. Fail this test and you get to stay with me, forever."

Alex clenched his fist and began to run down the corridor. A sign caught his attention:

**SCIENCE LAB – A3: LINK ROOM**

An arrow indicated taking a right turn at the next junction point. "Why would I go there?" thought Alex. Nonetheless, he ran in that direction.

The hallways were now familiar to him: Room A1 – Bio Lab. Room A2 – Computer Lab. Room A3 – Link Room. He ran inside. No humans were present.

"You have one minute to abandon ship!" shouted Eywa through the PA. A hint of laughter was in her voice.

"That's not funny!" shouted Alex. "You led me here! What do I do?"

"Isn't it obvious?" she said seductively.

Alex looked down at the Link Modules.

"You can't be serious…"

Eywa's Avatar image appeared on one of the HoloScreens next to a link unit. "Thirty seconds and you'll be all mine, my Alex."

"_You crazy bitch…"_ mouthed Alex under his breath as he keyed in the startup sequence. "You know I love you, Eywa. "But is this _really_ necessary?" He opened the lid and climbed in.

"It will all make sense later," she announced, as if in resignation. "Now, before you go into the link, tell Nawm to remove your exopack."

"My exopack…" Alex's eyes went wide. "Why would he do that? This isn't how things are supposed to work!"

"Do it now, or you will only hear your lover's voice when he comes to commune with us at his local neighborhood Tree of Voices. 102,054 locations ready to serve you…"

"Shut up! You crazy…!" Alex stopped himself short. As he had reached up to close the lid, the goddess had appeared, standing beside his link bed, but in _human_ form wearing a standard lab coat. The RDA logo had been replaced with a symbol of the Omaticaya. The doctor gasped.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I'm under a lot of stress. I really didn't mean that."

Eywa smiled. Even as a human, she was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. "It is okay. I understand, My Alex. I will help you send the message to your Nawm." She walked over to a science terminal and opened a comm. channel. "Alex, the channel is open. Only Nawm will hear your voice."

Alex looked towards her and she gave him an encouraging nod. He cleared his throat nervously. "Nawm, my love… are you there?"

"Alex!" sounded Nawm's voice over the PA. "What is going on? Are you okay, My Alex?"

"Nawm… My love. Please listen carefully." Alex looked back to Eywa who smiled back. Alex continued. "Nawm… I need you to remove the breathing mask from my human body." He hesitated. "You... _We_ have to let it go."

"My Alex, what do you mean?" shouted Nawm. "Why would I do this?"

"Nawm, I must let the old life go. That body will be of no use to me anymore."

Nawm looked up at Mo'at and explained Alex's request. The spiritual leaded nodded in agreement. Turning back to Alex's human body, he kissed him on the forehead, a tear running down his check. "Please don't let this be the end." Slowly and deliberately, he removed the exopack. The human body began to gasp, involuntarily. Nawm stood up and looked on in horror as the body began to hyperventilate. The entire process took about three minutes. Alex's human body now remained still, lifeless. Nawm closed the human's eyes and kissed him on last time.

"It is done," said Alex to his unusual link technician. "Alex Foster, the _human_, is no more."

Eywa took Alex's outstretched arm and placed it by his side and lowered the sensor array. She paused in the process of closing the lid. She pressed her lips together tightly for a moment, as if making a decision. "This is not the end." She leaned down and kissed Alex on the cheek. "I will allow you to return to your Na'vi body, but you now exist with me. Should you ever want to see me again, break your link and I will present this place to you again."

Alex smiled. "You will see me again. I promise."

"Until next time, Alex Foster," she chanted. "I will always be with you." With that, she closed the lid. She lingered for a few minutes, looking at Alex's image on the monitor. "Yes… I _will_ see you again."

With that, she was gone, as was the entire link room and surrounding hallways. The white void returned. It was completely _empty_.

All was now quiet at the Tree of Souls as they waited for the outcome. Nawm held his mate's hand tightly, praying for his return. Suddenly, he felt the hand squeeze back. "Alex? My Alex!" Nawm cried. "He's waking up! He's come back!" The roots of the tree began to release Alex' body.

All stared in awe as Dr. Alex Foster stood before everyone holding his expired human body in his arms. Everyone cheered at the success of the ritual and approached to greet the former human. Mo'at spoke proudly, Eytukan standing beside her. "Alex Foster will now be known as _Txan karyu ne fya Eywa_. He belongs to _all_ the Na'vi people as the spiritual leader that returned Eywa's grace to us all. May he be a great teacher." She turned to Alex. "The prophecy has been fulfilled!" Alex placed his human body on the ground and bowed to the Omaticaya leaders—a great smile on his face. Nawm stood by his side and placed his arm around his mate, tears in his eyes.

"Let us feast in honor of our success!" called out Alex. "Thank you all for coming. You made all the difference." With that, he and Nawm jumped down into the crowd of Na'vi and exchanged greetings. Then, he saw a face he thought he would never see again.

"It can't be…" cried Alex, stopped in his tracks. All eyes turned to the Na'vi leader with typical cyan skin, but graced with black stripes. Both Alex and Nawm gasped.

"Please," called the Olo'eyktan of the Mighty Mountain Clan. "Do not fear me. I come in peace."

After a moment of silence, the leader continued as Mo'at and Eytukan push through to them—concern in their eyes. The darker man addressed the leaders. "I am Txur'awkx. Olo'eyktan of the Clan of the Mighty Mountain. May Eywa bless you."

"Night People?" mouthed Mo'at, calmly. "You were only but legend. The strength of your people is legendary. How did you find us?"

Seeing Nawm, he smiled. "Your young warrior, here. He may not look it, but he is very strong. He rescued his entire hunting party."

Mo'at and Eytukan turned to Nawm. "Is this true?" asked Mo'at. She suddenly looked proud when Txur'awkx smiled and nodded.

"The pretty one is full of surprises," laughed Eytukan. "Come. Let us feast. I think we can be friends."

* * *

Well into the late hours of the night, a great party was held. All clans present had followed the Omaticaya back to the grounds around Hometree. Hunters brought back fresh sturmbeest and yerik which was cooked over a roaring fire. Many songs and dances ensued. Even the ceremonial blue flute was played for this festive occasion. Alex's human body was laid rest under the branches of Hometree. Everyone was happy.

Early the next morning, clan members began to say their goodbyes. All would spread the word about the fabulous Tree of Souls and that Eywa had returned as a result of the alien Alex Foster, echoing a long-standing song that had been sung since the beginning of recorded Na'vi history.

Nawm and Alex slept together well into the next morning. Everyone decided it would be good for them to rest in peace away from the others for a while. Nawm had also made it clear that they wished to not be disturbed. Everyone got the hint and let them be out in the meadow.

"Good morning, my love," said Nawm with sleepy, bedroom eyes. "You were with me the entire night for the first time. I am very happy." They lay together on their bed of grass, completely naked. Nawm's member throbbed and was in need of attention.

"Nawm…" said Alex with a smile. "Come here." He reached up and pulled the Na'vi's face to his by Nawm's long braids. Big Na'vi lips devoured each other. The hunter straddled the Avatar and began to grind against Alex's navel, his large member getting pushed off to the side. Alex reached for Nawm's hips, guiding them to his own throbbing manhood.

"Wait, My Alex." Nawm placed their queues together and the bond was made immediately, the tendrils stretching tightly as they intertwined. "Oh… Yes!" called out the hunter as the bond took effect. "I want you, My Alex." His breathing was picking up as Alex guided his member towards Nawm's entrance, teasing the dark blue tip on the outside folds. Nawm began to push down, moaning. He wanted it inside him.

"Okay," laughed Alex as he placed a bit of tree sap on his cock to provide some lubrication. Slowly, he pushed his way inside, Nawm's eyes shut as the initial pain subsided and the pleasure began. Nawm bounced on top of Alex, beads on the end of his braids clacking lightly. Pretty soon, he was taking all thirteen inches of Alex's length inside him. He leaned down to kiss him as he started to stroke his own length. Through the link, they both experienced Nawm's exploding passion. Alex's hips began to buck as his sensation began to intensify. Nawm's opening squeezed tightly around Alex's cock as the hunter began to climax. Feeling that Nawm was about to cum, Alex bucked harder, pushing himself to the limit.

Both Na'vi began to groan loudly as Nawm's rump began to slap against Alex's inner thighs. Both the mates began to moan loudly as Nawm finally let go—his seed shooting and hitting Alex's neck. Alex bucked wildly and came a few seconds later, just as Nawm's organism has peaking. It was perfectly timed. Both parties got a double shot of pleasure like a one-two punch. Both partners fell to the ground, panting loudly next to each other with goofy smiles. This would be the third time since the party ended.

"I love you, Nawm…" whispered Alex. He was nodding off again. Nawm smiled and kissed him lightly before finally nodding off himself in the warm, morning sunlight of the open pasture.

"Remind me to thank Max next time I see him," laughed Nawm. "He really knows how to grow Avatars in the right places." They both laughed. Truth be told, Alex was larger than any full blooded Na'vi that Nawm had ever seen.

After resting a while longer, the lovers bathed in the nearby stream which marked the boundary between the human territory and the Omaticaya. Nawm looked at Alex inquisitively.

"Do you long to see Max and Grace again?" asked the hunter. "Remember, the schoolhouse is neutral ground if you want to talk to them."

"Yes, I would like to see them again," said Alex, calmly. "We owe it to them to explain what has happened." They both nodded and crossed the stream, entering the schoolhouse. The room was empty. Opening the storage area, Alex searched for and found a transmitter.

"No child will ever come back, Alex," said Nawm. "They will stay away." He caught a glimpse of bullet holes in the chalkboard. "Not that I can really blame them."

"Yeah…" Alex placed the Na'vi sized transmitter around his neck and attached the earpiece. Turning it on and opening a channel, he was disappointed to receive a warning from a comm. operator asking to keep the channels clear and that he was unauthorized. Switching to the private channel range, he tried the one he and Max had always used in the past when they needed to pass secret messages to each other. They had been using it since childhood.

"Alex… is that you?" exclaimed Max. "Where are you!"

"I'm at the school, Max." He smiled. "Nawm is with me."

"So, what happened? Did it work?"

"Yes, Max. It really worked! My human body was buried amongst some of the most important people in the history of the Omaticaya. I'm a bit of a celebrity, Max. So, did you make out okay? Did anyone have trouble with the brass?"

"I am still out at Site 26. Trudy is coming back tomorrow to pick me up. I am collecting as much material as I can pack up to return. We have to try and make this look real."

"What happens when you come back without me?"

"You're officially dead, Alex," said Max with a giggle. "For the record, you were pummeled by a thantor. Hell's gate is already morning your loss. From what I have been told, Grace is hysterical. I will be sure to let her in on the secret once I get back."

"Max…" said Alex. "It is good to hear you again. I wasn't sure how this was going to work out." He paused for a moment. "Thank you all for everything. One day, I will find a way to see you all again."

Saying their goodbyes, the Na'vi returned to Hometree.

* * *

**CODA**: Let There Be Peace

Throughout the next year, Alex and Nawm traveled across the entire moon—something they had promised to do together for a long time. They met many clans and made friends that would last a lifetime. No one seemed to mind their unusual relationship. Even the Mighty Mountain Clan became a friend and ally of the Omaticaya. Bedtime stories of the "Night People" were now laughed upon and soon fell out of fashion. They often thought of their human friends, but decided not to venture to the human base. The two factions were at peace. They wanted it to stay that way. The human presence grew on Pandora, much to Na'vi's dismay, but they left each other alone. An occasional Avatar scientist would venture on the wrong side of the river just to be immediately sent back across, but that was the limit of human-Na'vi interaction.

Max finally found the combination of embryonic fluid based on native Pandoran biology to restart the Avatar program. Twenty more link modules were delivered with the next ISV. They were dispersed to the many portable habitats, some of them receiving multiple units. The humans could not go west, but the other three directions were open for business and explorers were sent out far and wide. Max now boasted having thirty-three Avatars and drivers actively working the mine. When the numbers still came in too high, the Avatar program was scaled back once again. Max was instructed not to create any more new bodies. They would do it on Earth from now on, where they could control the costs. Max tried again to create himself an Avatar body. This time it worked and he finally got to enjoy the world of Pandora from the Na'vi point of view. Avatar life proved to not be in the cards for him. His Avatar's life was taken one day when a hungry toruk ambushed his research group. An attentive lab tech caught his distress and broke the link, perhaps saving his life. Two other Avatars were lost that day, but thankfully, all drivers survived. Max did not create another Avatar for himself and resigned to remain human. Everyday he wondered if he would ever see Alex and Nawm again. Once in a while, he would check their secret comm. channel only to be greeted with silence. He had finally accepted the fact that his friends and colleagues were never coming back. However, each night before he went to bed, the scientist would send a message out on the secret channel, wishing his friends a good night.

With the school no longer serving its purpose, Grace devoted her time to Pandoran botany. While primarily looking for plant life that would benefit mankind, she still took the occasional outing to study Eywa's network—trying to unlock the secret of the trees. She had finally gotten word from the man that would be Dr. Alex Foster's replacement; a young Ph.D by the name of Thomas Sully, fresh out of U.C. Berkley. She began communicating all of her finding with him as he trained back on Earth. He would leave for Pandora in the RDA's latest inter-stellar vehicle, the _Venture Star_; the first in the fleet to benefit from the marvels of unobtanium, enjoying a 40% reduction in size. In about three years, the ship would be on its way. Tom and Grace got along well and she looked forward to finally meeting him in person. He had introduced some fascinating theories regarding the plant life on Pandora. Grace was finally allowed to use her Avatar again after six months of physical therapy. All Avatar drivers were now strictly limited to no more than eight hours per link session. She wasn't happy about it, but Selfridge had decided too much pressure was on Max. In order to delegate his responsibilities, Grace was named the new head of the Avatar program. In return for her cooperation, he agreed to allow her autonomy. She would run the program _her_ way without the brass looking over her shoulder. She too missed Alex, as well as walking amongst the Na'vi people. She hoped she would be able to return to Hometree someday. Perhaps she would see Alex and Nawm again.

With the help of his secret smuggling operation, Selfridge erased all of his debts and became quite a wealthy man. Quaritch also shared in this success, while hiding the operation from everyone. As long as they stayed on Pandora, they would continue to build their fortunes. As a result, they made certain that they would never be rotated back to Earth. With the recent launch of ISV Discovery, there were now three ISV's in rotation. The human base never had to wait more than two years to be resupplied. This would only increase their greed. Unobtanium refinement was in full swing. The RDA officials back on Earth were very pleased.

With the successful acquisition of the Japan Railways Group, the RDA made their debut in the Far East, extending their Mag-Lev rail system to a near-global empire. With a special request from Max, the old Okinawa line was named in honor of Sakura, the powerful, yet beautiful young woman who dared to fly to the stars.

Nawm and Alex eventually settled down with the Clan of the Mighty Mountain. Together, they sailed the seas of Pandora in their tall black ship. They were free; they were together. Someday, they decided they would return to the Omaticaya clan.

Someday... but not today.

* * *

_**FIN.**_

* * *

Special** THANKS** to:

1. **James Cameron** for creating this wonderful world for us to lose ourselves in.

2. The book, **"Avatar: An Activist Survival Guide."** It provided an invaluable reference to the world of Pandora and the Na'vi language.

3. **Sebastian Wolff** for the wonderful tool, the "**Navilator**," giving me a Na'vi voice to speak with and to actually sound intelligent.

4. **Xenobia** and **SpeshaSpak**, who inspired me to try writing fan-fiction in the first place. (How did I do?) Your stories were my inspiration.

5. The **Avatar Wiki**, which helped my find characters names and actually spell them correctly.

6. **Everyone** who actually read my story to its conclusion. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much I as I did writing it. I will defiantly try this again!

Peace and long life… May Eywa's love always be with you, wherever your heart takes you…

-YaoiBoy


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